The Last Shinobi
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: The worlds of Naruto and Dragon Ball Z collide. Violently. Now, with his home destroyed, his friends and family murdered, and his world left within a sea of ash, Uzumaki Naruto ascends to the stars in the pursuit of justice. If only it were that easy. Destiny waits for him amongst the heavens as does a horde of new enemies. And, perhaps...love? NarutoxHarem! Fluff, Action. Angst.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Brace yourselves. The worlds of Naruto and Dbz are about to collide. Painfully so. Be warned, this story is dark! It was born from an idea I had; the saiyans have rampaged across many worlds, making many enemies. What if they landed on a certain planet in a certain village? What if they pissed off the wrong blond?**

_"By the pricking of my thumbs...something wicked this way comes..._

_~William Shakespeare_.

**Dirge of Shinobi**

They hit without warning.

We thought they were shooting stars at first. Comets, perhaps. A sign of victory. Of celebration.

They were _not_ shooting stars.

Streaks of otherwordly radiance, come down from the heavens themselves, they were something we never could have expected. Never could have dreamed. Spaceships. Pods. Thousands upon thousands of single man craft, each containing a single, curiously clad individual, who, save for their tails and the fact that they came from another world, seemed of precious little import.

How wrong we were.

We were not ready for what came next. We were not prepared. And even had we been, what could we have done? How could we possibly have prepared against such a threat? Invaders from space! How the hell do you prepare for something like that? And what the hell do you do when those invaders suddenly turn into massive apes the size of skyscrapers? Giant friggin' gorrillas by the light of the full moon! You don't fight something like that, not if you've got any sense left in your head. You run. As hard and fast as you can.

Did we run? Hell no!

We fought of course. As did I. Weary though we were from the war with Tobi's forces, we turned together to face this new threat. We were fools. I know that now. We should've run. Damnit, we should've run! The apes weren't the mindless beasts we'd thought them to be. They were clever little monkeys, though little is a relative term considering how damn huge they were.

We felled a few of them together, Kyuubi and I , Bee and Gyuuki. It was not enough. Many died in the first wave. Too many. Good men and women. Fine shinobi. People who should've known peace were offered only a shallow grave, and the cold emptiness of death. I wasn't strong enough. Not fast enough. I could only look on in horror as they were killed, one by one. Sakura-chan, her body flying through the air, like a little girl, not the accomplished shinobi she'd become. Kakashi-sensei's body, trampled underfoot, crushed to death by the sheer number of the enemy. Kiba and Akamaru, _obliterated,_ man and beast alike incinerated by volley upon volley of energy, hurled fromt he beasts' maw. Once they turned those terrible blasts upon us, the battle warped from a war of attrition to an outright rout into a desperate retreat.

The remaining Kage held the line for our escape, bought us time with their lives. Everything fell apart after that. All because of them. Those damned dirty monkeys.

I watched them die over the course of the next week. All of them. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Sai, Neji, Lee, Tenten. All my fellow pupils, all my teachers...and Hinata. And it wasn't just in Konoha. Word reached us around the globe: every major village and civilaztion was under attack. From Demon Country to the Land of Spring, none were spared. In the coming months, we finally learned the names of our hunters, of the viscious bloodthirsty monsters that hunted our men by day and raped our women by night.

_Saiyans._

They slaughtered us. All of us.

Hinata...oh god...Hinata...

She was one of the last to go, and by her own hand in the end. She couldn't take it, couldn't handle it, unable to bear so much loss in so short a time. I'm still amazed I haven't taken that route yet as well. Bee's gone now, too, dead on the field of battle. And then I lost them. My last bastion of sanity. Shion...the child I fathered with her...the daughter I never knew...will never now know...my little baby girl...Gone. They were all I'd had left, all I had to cling to and now they're gone, dead and buried as though they never were.

The memories are seared into my mind. Their deaths. I cannot forget them. Nor can I forgive them. Can't forgive myself, for failing to protect them. My friends, my family. I live. Just as the memories of my sensei live on in this eye of mine_-his eye-_dragging my dying body from hiding place to hiding place, so too does my rage. I'll kill them. I'll slaughter their entire race and dance in the ashes. Only, now, there's nowhere left for me to hide. My _world_ is ashes. The Saiyans have departed, leaving for the stars. For a home unknown. I am alone.

**"Forgetting about me already, are you?"**

Not quite alone, then.

I find one of their pods, its owner longer since dead. I drag myself inside; because there's nowhere else to go. My world is burning. As am I, as the hatch hisses shut. If the saiyans are strong, then there must be some one who is stronger still. I know not where I go, only that I leave my world behind. The strange alien technology forces my mind into slumber, my body into stasis as g-forces and gravity tear at me. My wounds scream in protest. I ignore them, just as I ignored Sasuke's end, when it finally came. In a sick sort of way, I think I know how he felt, what drove him, to commit so many heinous acts, in the name of vengeance. When you've got everything, you'll do anything to keep it. When you lose that everything, you'll do anything to make them pay, to wreak your vengeance, on the ones that took it from you in the first place. My body wants merely to rest, to succumb to sleep, and I reluctantly allow it to slip into a light slumber. It will be many years yet before I allow myself to truly sleep.

But I will rise above this rage, as I have risen above everything else. Still, that small part of me stirs. Seething. Lying in wait.

It will not rest until I have my revenge.

* * *

_(Years later, in the dakened depths of space)_

"His lordship will see you now."

Uzumaki Naruto looked up from the shadows of a harshly lit hall as the sound of footsteps clattered across his ears, punctuated by an overly feminine voice. An eerie, blazing red eye, regarded the one who had spoken with an almost practiced distaste, one its own did not so easily share.

He opened his mouth to reply, to offer some sort of thank you...and found himself face to face with quite possibly _the_ most handsome_-and blue-_man in existence, or the most lovely woman he'd every laid eyes upon in his limited experience. Jade eyes stared back at him flaty, prompting the blond to rise from his place against the bulkehead and follow after him.

"Finally." He muttered. "I don't like to be kept waiting." He shot a venemous glare toward the doors, where the overlord's henchman, Dodoria lay slumped against the floor. Harsh, purplish bruises lined the length of his face; one eye was swollen shut and he looked like he was already well on his way to a fat lip, a thin trickle of blood lining the opposite cheek. His barrel chest rose and fell laboriously, his body struggling to recover from this, the blonde's most recent attempt to impress some measure of restraint into his thick, spiky skull. If the alien cared for his comrade's questionable health, he did precious little to indicate it. With a silent flourish, he turned, ushering the blond down the corridor.

"I've said it before," he chastised, "You will wait as long as necessary."

"Oooh, I'm sooo terribly sorry to have offended you, your ladyship." Naruto sniped back. "Please, forgive my unworthy impertinence." He enjoyed the light green flush that crept through the alien's skin, but not quite so much as the scathing stare the shorter alien leveled in his direction.

"You dare-!"

Gloved fingers wedged themselves into the wall a mere millimeter from the man's-woman's?-head, evoking a startled shriek from the pale-skinned aide. Naruto leaned forward with intent, his eyes blazing like eerie red coals despite the harsh luminance lighting the corridor. When he spoke, it was with the deadly, dual-timbred voice of his tenant.

**"I'd dare to give you a black eye if you don't hurry up and take me where I want go!"**

"You filthy cur! How dare you threaten me with such crass words-

A pulse of _ki_ from the blonde's fingers ended their arguement.

"A-At once, sire!"

Naruto grinned.

"Good boy, Zarbon."

Huffing, the alien closed his mouth and stormed around the bend, leaving the snickering blond to follow after.

In the years, since he'd left his planet, he'd discarded his hideous orange-black jumpsuit. The black remained in his current attire, however: the saiyan jumpsuit he wore-though it galled him to call it such-consisting of an armored vest replete with padding and a pair of clasps to hold his cape in place upon those strong shoudler. He still had a touch for the flamobyant orange at times, but today, he'd chosen a tasteful scarlet as a nod toward his tenant, rather than the usual garrish colors of orange and blue. There were times when he wished for a return to the old colors, though.

**"If you'd gone with orange again, I'dve flayed you alive." **Kurama reminded him as he followed the aide through a heavily guarded door. Naruto stifled a bitter laugh. Even after all these years, and in spite of the pact they'd formed, his friend, his ally, his nakama, the kitsune still loathed all things orange. With a passion. Why, just the other day he'd nearly flayed some poor alien girl alive just for having orange hair! Honestly, if the kitsune's death didn't mean his own, he'd actually contemplate ripping him out of his stomach. Even if the bastard _did_ grant him the ability breathe in a vaccum.

**"We really shoulda killed that Zangya girl."** Kurama argued. **"Or at least banged her,"** It added, almost as an afterthought. **"Kami knows we haven't gotten any since we left home. And we're not getting any younger, kit.**

_'Says you!'_ Naruto guffawed inwardly. _'I can't age past thirty thanks to your antics!'_

**"You were the one who wanted to learn the arts of ki and such!"** The fox snorted and he could sense its restlessness; because its feelings were his own. "**Honestly, we should just bang every chick we come across. That'd be a fine way to get the shinobi era restarted and repopulate your planet, wouldn't you agree?"**

_'You do that, and I'll have you sealed right back up again.'_ he reminded his old friend, though there was no bite in his words. _'Besides..._

**"Hmm?"**

He trailed off, uncertain. It wasn't that he didn't desire anyone. He did. Many women, strewn across the galaxy had caught his eye. He just couldn't bring himself to bed any of them. Couldn't bring himself to betray Shion's memory. In hindsight, it didn't make much sense. He'd only slept with her one time to help her produce an heir for her bloodline. Every time he thought of it, he could feel those pale eyes burning on him. A silent challenge to move on. Haunting him. _Aargh!_ Even in death she tormented him with dreams of what could've been, the life they could've had. If only there was a way to bring her back. If only...

**"You're edgy today." **Kurama frowned within the well of his soul.** "Moreso than usual. What's bothering you?"**

_'You mean _other_ than the fact I'm about to meet with the most powerful man in the universe?"_

**"Don't bullshit me kit."** There was a long, insufferable pause as it sensed his thoughts.** "Aw crap...don't tell me you're still hung up on her! She's dead, kit! You know that! There's no way to bring back those who have died, and you know it!"**

_'Surely there must be some way-_

**"Don't pull an Uchiha on me and start brooding again!"**

_'Alright, alright!'_

_He sighed, his gaze drifting outward._

_'I am curious though..._

The fox snickered, glad for a change in topic.

**"Well I'll be damned, kit. Didn't know you swung that way."**

The blond stole a glance at the alien's backside and blanched.

_'N-Not if she's a he..._

**"You could always ask."**

Naruto swallowed for what felt like the upteenth time as he shook his head and bit his tongue with enough force to draw blood. The subject matter of Zarbon's questionable gender was not to be discussed. He'd learned _that_ from the very beginning during his tenuous career as a mercenary. He'd never once met the man himself. _Until today._ Today he'd finished his four years of hellish solitude and training. Today, was the day he would "strongly suggest" that his employer tend to the growing number of saiyans throughout the galaxy. He himself wanted nothing more than to exterminate the filthy little apes for obliterating his home planet and trapping his body in an eternal limbo between the years of twenty and thirty. Their were drawbacks to drawing upon that much power, after all.

"Overlord Uzumaki has arrived, my lord." Zarbon bowed beyond the door. Naruto sighed inwardly at the title. So he'd razed a few planets, to test his newfound powers. Big deal! It wasn't like he'd killed anyone to claim his considerable prowess. Unlike Frieza. The madman had massacred the saiyans years before, years before he gained these new powers, before he could have taken his revenge. His skin crawled at the thought of what was meant to be his, his revenge, being taken away from him. It was only with a supreme effort that he forced himself to listen for prescence within the darkened room beyond.

"Send him in, Zarbon." a smooth voice commanded from just out of sight.

"At once, my lord."

Naruto restrained a grunt as the lithe blue alien ushered him into the room and promptly slammed the door at his back. Cocky little shit. Repressing the urge, he turned his attention to the viewport. The figure standing before him was _not_ what he'd expected. For starters, Lord Frieza was facing away from him, swirling what looked a great deal like a glass of wine in one hand while the other, drummed across the elaborate device upon which he always sat. He was a great deal shorter than Naruto imagined.

"You're Frieza?" he couldn't quite restrain the words.

The alien turned to regard him with a cool, black iris.

"I am _lord_ Frieza, yes."

**"Not what I expected, either."** Kyuubi chortled.

Naruto grunted. He could feel power from this one. Immense power. Best not to anger him. That didn't mean he was about to step on eggshells, though. This was the man who ruled over the saiyans. He dictated nearly their every move, ordained which planet they would conquer, and which they would destroy. In essence he was to be held responsible for the destruction of Naruto's world. Something about the alien warned against an assault, however, and thus the blond bit down the rage that threatened to come boiling back up and forced himself to speak once more.

"I take it you're the one in charge, then?"

_"My, aren't you a cheeky one."_

The tyrant frowned and turned to face him, draining the wine from the glass in a single gulp. It shattered in his hands seconds later. Naruto met the alien's gaze evenly, refusing to back down. This tryant commanded a small army. To attack him here and now would be suicide. Utter suicide. He couldn't seem to suss him out, though. What the blazes was he after? Why had he summoned him here?

Naruto swallowed the blile in his mouth.

"Do you hate the saiyans as much as I do?"

That, seemed to surprise Frieza. He fiddled with his scouter for a long, terse moment, his frigid countenance betraying nothing.

"Hate is such a strong word." The tyrant supplied at last. "Suffice it to say that they have earned my ire." He gestured to the viewport below. "Which is why I have summoned you here." He beckoned for the blond to join him at the viewport. "Come," he turned away. "There's something I want you to see." Naruto glared bloody red daggers at the alien's exposed back. His fingers twitched, itching for action. The urge to attack was ever present, and the opening, was right there. It tugged at him again, like an eager dog straining at its leash, but he again pulled at it to heel. He had to find him out what Frieza wanted. He had to know. Everything else could wait.

Everything else would wait, until then.

Everything would wait until he was found.

He stepped toward the looking glass, albeit warily. He'd made the mistake of trusting someone once before. He wasn't about to make it again. He found himself staring down at massive green sphere. His eyes bulged in disbelief. A planet? When had they arrived? He'd come aboard only hours before, and they'd been in the void of space. Their certainly hadn't been a planet there before. Green skies, and large, swelling oceans sprawled beneath the atmosphere, suggesting a ecosytem ripe with life. Ripe for the taking.

"I...have a proposition to make." the tyrant announced. "From one ruler to another."

Naruto resisted the urge to balk at the dimunitive alien beside him. The few planets he _had_ conquered now enjoyed peace. Not through fear of extinction, but merely of the promise of his imminent return should any of their inhabitants step out of line. Whereas Naruto preferred force as a last resort, Frieza's _modus operandi_ was painfully simple. Obey or die. Naruto would rather die by his own hand than rule in such a manner. A hand stained with the blood of villains and wicked men, not the soul-searing cries of the innocent. The planets over which he "ruled" with ruled being the operative term, often looked forward to the return, of their benevolent monarch. Rule under Overlord Uzumaki meant safety from Frieza the Tyrant. The very same tyrant about to offer him an alliance.

**"If you're smart kit, you'll walk away now."**

Naruto carefully ignored him.

"I'm...listening."

"What do you know about the Drgaon Balls?" Frieza asked abruptly.

His interest momenarily piqued, the blond inclined his head toward the tyrant. Dragon Balls? What the hell were those? The balls of a dragon? He shuddered at the image and shook his head in revulsion. If they actually were the balls of an actual dragon then he wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.

"Nothing."

"Below us is the planet Namek." Frieza began coldly. "Home to the Namekian Dragon Balls. Rumor has it they can grant any number of wishes." Depravity, cruel, ruthless depravity shone within those beady little eyes a moment, then an eternity, before he continued. "Immortality. Eternal youth. Some say they can even_ restore the dead to health_." Blue-red eyes fluttered open and shut with all the rapidity of a hummingbird's wingspan all but bulging in their disbelief. He couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Restore the dead to health. The words resonated within his mind, striking a chord in the depths of his soul.

Naruto felt his throat dry up.

_"What?"_

Kyuubi spat.

_**"Fuck."**_

Impossibly, Frieza's smile grew.

"What would you say if I offered you the gift of immortality?"

_'Don't want it.'_ Was Naruto's immediate thought. _'I just want Shion back.'_

"Why offer me this?" he said insead.

Frieza scowled.

"My brother, Cooler, has also heard of the balls. Even now he comes to claim them for himself. I cannot allow that to happen.'

Naruto frowned.

"Aaaaand how do I fit into this?"

"As loathe as I am to admit such a thing at this very moment, you're the only individual other than myself who could actually slow my brother down." His grin grew colder still. "For for a few hoursat the least." Naruto's left eye eye twtiched noticeably, sharigan briefly flaring. In all his travels, from the planet Yardrat to Kanass and beyond, he'd never met an individual as cold and callous as this creature. He had absolutley no intention of sharing anything with him at all. He merely needed a stopgap to stall his brother.

**"He actually intends to use us."** Kyuubi deadpanned.** "He's more of a fool than we thought."**

_'Well, we can't have that now, can we?'_

**"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"**

_'If it involves punching this asshole in the head, then yes.'_

Making no effort to hide the smiling stealing across his face, the blond began to focus. His words were soft and simple, even as his mind strayed toward the planet below. His left hand began to shimmer an eerie red just out of sight, just behind his back. He locked gazes with the alien, pinnioning him with an imposing stare.

"Is that an insult or a compliment?"

Frieza's tail lashed angrily against the ground.

"I strongly suggest you take it as the latter."

Naruto's left eye twitched, but he reigned himself in.

"Just out of curiousity, how many dragon balls are there, exactly?"

"Seven to be precise." Frieza answered slowly. Strange, his scouter was picking up something. "When gathered together, you summon the dragon to grant your wish."

Naruto nodded.

"That's all well and good...

"I take it you've accepted my offer then?"

Blue eyes blazed hotly.

_"Why the hell would I want to work with an asshole like you?"_

"What?!"

"Ah, and you're also forgetting something, _Lord_ Frieza."

"And what might that be?"

Naruto gave the ruler of the universe a ferocious grin.

_"I've been to Yardrat."_

Before his fellow overlord could think to ask what that meant, the blond pressed two fingers to his head, his power level spiking with such force that Frieza's scouter shattered into a thousand shards of shrapnel, merely by being in the blonde's prescence. His form flickered rapidly, fading like a bad image awash with static as his mind honed in on the energies of the namekian people below. It was faint, but he only needed a trace, just the sligthest trace_-there!_

"Which means I don't need you or your ship!" In a flash of light he jolted forward, clenched knuckles slamming into the tyrant's chest with enough force to send him jarring out the viewport, and into the cold vaccum of space, leaving a dumbfounded Frieza to wonder _what had just happened_ his lungs working rapidly, his heart before he finally remembered that he could breathe in space. It was enough. Even as he streaked toward the ship, the blond flipped him the bird and dissapeared.

"I'll see you on Namek, asshole!" with a final flicker of motion, Naruto was gone, vanishing toward the planet's surface. "Those balls are mine!"

And thus, a new war for the Dragonballs began.

**A/N: Aaaaaaand cut. Hope you liked it! Pairing is NarutoxHarem with a saddistic little twist. A certain _saiyan_ is going to be female. I'll not say who! Is Naruto a villain? Certainly not! He had his own motives for working with Frieza, until he found he was going to be used and thrown aside. Naturally, he didn't take very kindly to that. This takes place at the very beginning of the Namek saga. A startled Naruto is offered the chance to be reunited with his wife and child. He merely has to collect the dragonballs now-and a namekian-in order to grant his wish. Who on earth would refuse such an offer?! And with that, we have another player in the war for the Dragon Balls on Namek. Anywho, I'm off to work now and I look forward to your reviews, and hope you liked so...**

**...REVIEW, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**

**R&R! =D**


	2. Allies and Enemies

**A/N: Brace yourselves. The worlds of Naruto and Dbz are about to collide. Painfully so. Be warned, this story is dark! It was born from an idea I had; the saiyans have rampaged across many worlds, making many enemies. What if they landed on a certain planet in a certain village? What if they pissed off the wrong blond? Enjoy this chapter and review! It's a looooong one!**

_"Congratulations. You've successfully managed to piss off one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now, would you kindly...DIE?"_

_~Uzumaki Naruto_.

**Enemies and Allies**

In hindsight, using instant transmission to land on a planet _he'd never been to before _wasn't exactly a wise decision on Naruto's part. He'd no idea where he was going to land, or even if he was going to land at all. It was a decision made in haste and one too late to retract. By the time he understood thus, even as his mind processed the horrible fact that he might end up anywhere on Planet Namek, trapped inside a mountain or up at the very bottom of the ocean, he opened his eyes.

And then he saw the bubbles. Felt the pressure of the water, pressing down against thim. The air, leaving his lungs!

_'Sonuva-_

Water water everywhere, and not a drop of air. Flooding his lungs, as he struggled to breathe. Which way was up? Which was down? He couldn't see. Couldn't be certain of anything, save his body, screaming for the air it needed to survive. Clamping down on the what little oxygen remained him, the last shinobi flailed his legs rapidly and began his ascent, hoping, _praying_ he'd not chosen the wrong direction. Bubbles rose toward what had to be the surface, toward freedom. Lungs burned. Muscles cramped. Vision dimming his arms and legs until his head finally breached the surface. Spitting curses nearly venemous enough to imprint themselves into the bank, the last shinobi emerged triumphant from what might've very well been a watery grave and flung himself onto dry land. Flopping onto his back, he opened his mouth to utter another, viler oath and succeeded only in expelling an unhealthy lungful of water.

"Bleargh!" Naruto blanched as he showered himself with moisture. "Yuck! Saltwater's the same here as it is anywhere!"

**"You're the one who decided to use instant transmission at such a distance."** Kurama reproached. **"You should've known we might end up anywhere. Just be grateful we didn't end up at the bottom of the ocean instead!"**

Naruto tried to find a sane arguement against the kitsune; it was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

_'It was either that or fight Frieza in the vaccum of space.'_ he retorted weakly.

**"We can BREATHE in space, remember?"** the kitsune countered.

"We can also use instant transmission and walk through walls." The blond muttered blackly as he craned his head backward, taking in surroundings. "Need I remind you the Kanassans also taught us to read minds and peer into the future? Foresight aside, I don't see how _either_ of those abilities are going to help us recover the Dragon Balls before Frieza gets his grubby hands on...

Only then did he realize where he'd landed.

...them." Naruto finished, gawping.

**"Alright, now you're just making excuses...oh."** Kyuubi finished in awe, words leaving him as he peered through the eyes of his host. **"Well, hello...how did _that_ get there?"**

"Beats me." Naruto breathed, awed by the sight.

He found himself staring up, up, _up_ at a massive spire of stone and rock, towering towards the upper limits of the atmosphere. In his shinobi days, it would've taken him at least a week, maybe even longer, to climb up there using chakra alone. Now? Now, Naruto stood woodenly, not taking enough care. Now, he pushed the ki beneath his feet as he'd done with chakra when he was a boy, smiling softly as the wind began to pick up. A red aura enfulged his body, lending him strength four years in the making, hard-earned power that, at its peak, could destroy an entire planet. "Up we go." Naruto muttered grimly to himself as his body took flight. This was where he'd landed, at the bast of the tower. He was at least obligated to see what awaited him at the top.

**"We need to find those balls as soon as possible."** Kyuubi cautioned. **"Don't waste time."**

_'We need to find the balls.'_ Naruto balked at his companion's poor choice of words. _'Ugh, do you have any idea how _wrong_ that sounds?'_

**"Hey, I'm not the one writing the dialogue here!"**

_'I suppose if you were I'd have myself half a harem by now, hmm?'_

**"You're damn right you would!"**

Their ascent was mercilessly swift, leaving Naruto little time to contemplate his response to the breaking of the fourth wall.

Rocketing to the top in less than an instant, he hurtled upward, alighting effortlessly upon the top of the so-called spire. He half-expected to find Frieza waiting for him there, impossible though it was. Imagine his sheer disbelief, his surprise, when he found himself face to face with a strange looking house. Twin spikes jutted from the roof fluidly, flowing from the strange material as though a pair of giant hands had crafted the home of clay, not brick and plaster. Awed by its construction_-even in his long journey he'd never seen anything quite like it-_Naruto laid a hand upon its surface, stroking it as he circled the building. He marvelled at it, every inch and every feature; its smooth texture, its multi-faceted windows, and finally its door, as he came full circle.

An ominous blackness stretched beyond, beckoning invitingly to the blond. He could sense something within, something old. Ancient. Something once might, now old and withered by the passage of time. Whatever this strange entity was, it was fading, fast. Growing weaker, with every second. Curiousity compelled him to take a step forward, his fingers closing around the opening.

"Hello?" He called out into the darkness. "Is anyone-

A blast of ki was their answer.

Naruto flung himself backwards solely on instinct, uncaring as the wall burst before his retreating form. Skipping backwards, he caught in hand and flung it back from whenceit came. When the _next_ blast came, he was prepared.

Naruto didn't even bother to raise a hand. The yellow wave breezed harmlessly past as he took the slightest step to the right. Ah, there were _two_ powers within the strange abode and this was clearly the stronger of the pair. Strong, but not strong enough. His musings were interrupted as a fist cracked across his jaw, sending him sprawling. Under normal circumstances such a blow wouldn't have fazed him so much as startled him. But he was startled, surprised by both the suddeness of the attack and the attacker himself. He skipped backwards, retreating to the air to escape his opponent. They did not pursue.

"What the hell?" Naruto mumbled, glaring as a green arm lined with pink blotches retreated into the shadows. "Who-

"Not another step!"

Naruto yelped as an even stranger warrior emerged from the strange house. Whereas he was tall, this warrior was taller still. He was also green. Not green with illness mind you, but green. Humanoid with pointed ears and antennae, pink splotches ajourning his arms, and as he could see through the opean coat, most of his lower chest. It was as if some misbegotten God had hatched a plan: to take a human and a slug and fuse them together into one entity. The end result of this most unholy union? A namekian.

**"It's been a long time since I've seen one of them."** Kurama mused. **"And this one has quite the power level."**

"What, a ki blast?"

**"No, you fool! A namekian!"**

"Who are you?" The green man demanded with his harsh words stabbing at the airborne blond. "What business have you with Grand Elder Guru?"

Rather, this was what he _said_ but Naruto couldn't understand a word of it. All he heard was gibberish.

_'Kurama?'_

**"Give me a second." **The fox grunted. **"My namekian is a bit rusty."**

Naruto winced as his eyes flickered red, as the concsiousness of Kurama gently nudged him aside. He hated these brief moments of inactivity. Not that he minded sharing his body with one of the most powerful entities known to man, rather, it was his own helplessness in times such as these that plagued them. It was the waiting that he hated. Being forced to stand by as the fox flexed his arms and fingers, accomodating himself back into the body they shared. It was disconcerting, realizing that you had no control over your body: a body you'd willingly surrendered to a force infinitely greater than yourself.

A body you might not get back if said force decided it _liked_ being in control.

Naruto shook his head, banishing his anxiety to the deepest, darkest, depths of his mind. He'd conquered that fear two years ago; when he and the kitsune had become one. Two souls, in one body. No longer jailor and tenant, but two individual beings sharing a single form. It had be disconcerting at first. His union with Kurama, lent him the most interesting technqiues; ki manipulation of flight of course, but also the inherent power to transform. Nine different transformations to be precise, one of which he'd already unlocked. He no longer became a fierce, feral beast when drawing upon the fox's power. Naruto didn't quite know where he stood yet in comparsion to the mighty Frieza but he was confident in his abilities; he could always use instant transmission if things got too heated or the crazy bastard tried to blow the planet.

The namekian barked something up at him, nonsensical gibberish that Kurama flawlessly interpreted into english.

"Easy, friend." He spoke in fluent namekian. "I mean you no harm."

Below them, the namek visibly started, surprised to hear a foreigner speaking his native tongue.

"What sorcery is this?!" He exclaimed aghast, gawping at the human standing before him. "How is it that you can speak my language?!" This man wore saiyan armor, was dressed as a prince, but clearly he was neither the former nor the latter. Who was he? Kurama only smiled, his eyes flickering back to blue as he surrendered control to his host.

"My name is Naruto." Kurama spoke outwardly as his mind receded. "And you?"

...Nail." The namekian responded slowly, eyeing the warrior warily, blissfully unaware of the conversation taking place between Naruto and Kurama within the blonde's mind.

**"There." **He said, as Naruto shouldered his way to the fore of their shared mind.** "You should be able to understand the namek language, now." **Naruto would've groaned, had he control of his mouth. As it were he rolled his eye in exasperation. _'Lovely. Yet another addition to my physiology."_ he lamented, cracking his stiff neck as sensation reluctantly returned to him. With all these change he scarcely even recognized himself anymore! At this rate, _his race _was going to end up extinct like those recchid saiyans!

"Now, is there a reason why you've punched a hole in Guru's house?"

"What? I never-

Naruto facepalmed as he saw the gaping _hole_ he'd made upon his unexpected exit and ascent into the sky.

"Oh."

**"Conratulations."** Kurama chided.** "You haven't been here for even a minute and already you've destroyed something."**

_'Would you kindly be quiet?'_

"You still haven't answered my question." Nail raised a hand in warning. "What is your purpose here? Have you come to kill us?"

"No no no!" Naruto waved his hands rapidly. "I'm not here to hurt anyone! Honest! I just wanted to ask about the dragon balls!" He was cursing himself even as the words left his lips. A burst of ki was promptly slapped aside, left to decimate an island in the distance. Naruto cringed. Hopefully there hadn't been any namekians on that one...

"How do you know about the dragon balls?" Nail demanded.

For a moment Naruto said nothing. And how could he? If he told Nail of the hell that was about to come down on their head, his people would panic. The namekians were merely a scant few. Of those few even less held any real power. Frieza's men were many, numbering in the hundreds, possibly even thousands if he called for reinforcements. Which he surely would, now that Naruto had betrayed him. No, any chance they had was to flee; take their elders and children offplanet, flee from Frieza and his men and possibly even _Cooler_ and his squadron , if the tyrant was to be believed.

**"This is turning out to be one big clusterfuck, you know that?"**

_'Tell me about it.'_

"Look, I'm not here to fight." The last shinobi soothed. "I'm here to talk."

"You can talk outside."

"Damnit, you! Listen!"

"Bring him inside, Nail."

Naruto's head snapped toward the settlement at the sound of the voice.

"Who was that?"

"None of your damned business!"

_"Ara?"_

Nail seemed to cringe. He took a step forward, fingers clenched into a claw.

_"Nail." _The word was filled with reproach this time.

For an even longer moment, the younger namekian looked as though he might protest. His jaw clenched, muscles bulging as he ground his hands into fists. Muttering an impreciation beneath his breath, he stoically led the last shinobi inside the darkened house. As it turned out, it wasn't nearly as dark as he'd thought. In fact, the inner room was a great deal _brighter,_ than he'd expected it to be. Larger, too. But not quite was large as the giant namek seated in the center of the room. Did I mention he was giant?

He found himself face to face with a massively obese namek, sitting upon a large throne. The namekian's energy was weak, as though he clung to life through tenacity alone. His great bloated frame heaved for breath a moment longer before he turned his head toward Naruto. Slitted eyes contemplated for an idle moment before turning back toward Nail.

"Great evil has come to Namek," The Great Namek began, as though he himself was sensing the blonde's own inner turmoil. "Frieza and his wicked men. Because of them, I sense my children are in grave-" He coughed harshly, a spasm rocking his mighty frame. "It seems they will stop at nothing until they have gathered all seven dragon balls. To nameks the dragon balls symbolize wisdom and power." He snorted. "But this Frieza, he sees them only as a tool to serve his greed." His eyes drifted toward Naruto in silent judgement; as though weighing the consequences of his actions, condemning him for his every sin. You have come here to prevent a catastrophe, as I have foreseen. However, I sense great darkness within you. Yet there is also light, dim though it may have become over the years."

Naruto couldn't help but bristle beneath the elder namek's stare.

"His men butchered my people." When he spoke, it was with a venom that silenced the room. "I won't let him do the same to yours."

"Your sentiment is appreciated lad, but revenge is not the answer." Guru's gaze drifted toward the ceiling, as though he might somehow divine wisdom from the sloped roof hanging above their heads. "You too desire to use the balls for your own purposes, noble though they might be."

"Forgive me for being blunt, Guru-san, but that's exactly why I came here." Naruto solemnly pressed a hand to his chest, fingers bunching against the armor in a furtive effort to control his rising resentment. "You...are correct in your assumption. I came here to use them for my own means. I only recently learned of their existence, and I don't even know what they look like.

"I won't let them."

Nail cut his eyes at Naruto.

"You?" He guffawed. "What can you possibly do?"

"I can kick their asses, that's what!" The blond retorted, cheeks puffing. "I might even be able to give Frieza a hard time." Guru stared at him for a long hard moment. Then he sighed.

"Please, come closer and we will solve this puzzle."

"Excuse me?"

Guru beckoned Naruto closer and the blond reluctantly complied. He had nothing to fear from a namek, much less a dying one. He would honor the alien's request.

"Will you?" he replied in a voice of sudden steel. Turning towards him, he pinioned him on his gaze. "Then you will hold stil." he lifted his hand as if in blessing, but then reached out to lay his palm on Naruto's forehead and lace his thick fingers through the blonde's hair. Power poured through his touch. It roared into Naruto. The namekian's mind entered his own like a thief through a window, cautiously. His body did not welcome this thief. Nor did Kurama. It took all he had not to send the alien screaming out of the well of his soul and into gibber madness. He willed himself to be still as Guru sifted through his memories, turned over his every action of kindess and temerity in hand, contemplating each one as master would his craft. He was forced to rexperience everything of importance.

The day he became a genin. Beyond that it was all a blur; his timeline fell apart and everything blurred together.

All the events of that storied career, leading to the defeat of the enigmatic Tobi and the ending of the brief Fourth Shinobi War. The arrival of the saiyans and the catastrophe that came soon thereafter. His first and only night with Shion, the news that he was a father, that she'd given birth to a bouncing baby girl. Loosing his eye in the battle with a saiyan, his bloody fingers closing around the lolling orb of Kakashi's sharingan, contemplating what he was about to do and the horror that came with the act. eye from his corpse Returning home to find Hinata there to greet him, the sight of her pale, bloodless corpse driving a tortured scream from his throat as he realized her life had ended by her own hand, by the gaping tear in her throat-

_**"GET OUT!"**_

When Naruto screamed this time, Kurama screamed with him. As the only one who hadn't initially forsworn his existence, the fox had genuinely come to care for the shy little hyuuga over the years, and revisting her death was more than enough to earn his ire. A crimson arched between them, spitting its displeasure, severing the teneous connection between them and the elder namek.

**"!"**

Guru's hand broke from Naruto's forehead, and he lurched back, catching a slight breath.

"The things you have done."

Naruto frowned.

"I'm not proud of some of them."

Guru glanced toward him and drew a deep breath, becoming himself once again.

"I have seen your mind. Your heart, though your heart may no longer pure, your intentions are true. Your bravery and loyalty to your fallen race is beyond question. You have proven yourself worthy to receive this," He reached around to the top of the chair, where a single, orange ball lay. Naruto started in surprise. That couldn't possibly be...

"You don't know what this means to me." Naruto had to fight to quell his own joy. He was now one step closer to being reunited with his family and friends. All he needed was the remaining six!

"I only hope there's still time for you to make your wish." Guru rasped out.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I only have a few days left to live. If your wish is to be fufilled you will have to gather all seven dragon balls before I go. However, if this cannot be accomplished, then-_urgh!"_ Another racket of coughs assailed him, forcing him to raise a hand to ward of Nail's aid. "Then the dragonballs will disappear along with me."

Naruto wanted to weep with frustration, as all of his carefully laid plans came crashing down around his ears. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! He'd planned to revive his wife and child, potentially even the whole of his people, then bug out before Frieza could find him. Apparently, that was out of the question. Now he'd only days instead of months to search the planet and recover the balls? Frieza was only hours away. He was about to arrive. Naruto had have to move quickly. But where to start?! Panic threatened to overwhelm him. No, he wouldn't go out like that! If he couldn't have his wish...

"If I can't make my wish, no one can." Naruto reaffirmed aloud, clenching the fingers of hiand into a fist. "I can at least promise you that."

"Thank you." Guru sighed. You do my people a great service, young man."

Naruto flushed.

"I-It's what anyone would do."

"Indeed, you are brave. And there is much strength in you and your friend. Even more than you the two of you realize. For much of it is still sleeping."

Naruto blinked.

"Come again?"

"Allow me to awaken this power."

"My...what?"

**"Why not?" **Kurama offered the mental equivalent of a shrug.** "We could always use the boost."**

_'If you say so. But haven't we exceeded our limits, though?'_

**"Then this can't possibly hurt."**

Naruto willed himself to be still as the elder laid a trembling hand upon his head for the second time. Memories long since buried threatened to surface once more, threatened to overwhelm them. He carefully supressed them, inwardly incredulous at Guru's revelation. Sleeping power? The only thing he had sleeping within him was an undying hunger for revenge. He certainly didn't have any latent abilties, beyond what had been taught to him by his alien mentors. If needed more, he could always tap into Kurama's wellspring of power to replenish his own. The old fox knew some pretty interesting techniques...but back to the present.

"Really, I'm already all tapped out-

"Silence." Guru hushed him. "Allow me to concentrate."

"Alright...

Before he could finish, Naruto felt it.

_Ba-dump._

Naruto stole a glance down at himself. At his hands. A hellish red aura blazed around him, burnishing his skin a sinister shade of scintilating scarlet. He flexed his arms, amazed at the sudden increase, not just in sheer speed or agility, but strength as well. Power! Power like he'd never felt before! He execute a quick series of punches in the air, surprised by his own speed. It was...impressive to say the least. He was half-tempted just to transform and see what the incease would be like. It was only Kurama's words that restrained him.

"Oi!" He yelped in surprise. "That's...That's a lot of power!"

**"Hmm...I'd say he's increased the strength of our base form roughly x20 what it was before, without the transformation." **

_'That much?!'_

There was a moment of silence.

**...you also might be able to use the second transformation now without killing yourself."**

_'NANI?!'_

**"I said might! I'm not certain! Though I don't recommend it. You'll light up this planet like a flare with your ki and lead them right to us."**

"There is hope for your yet, lad. I sense you will bring much help against the coming darkness. Please, would you grant me this one favor?" Naruto listened attentively. "Take care of that dragonball. "I've entrusted it to you. Its fate, along with the fate of this entire planet, now rests in your hands...shinobi."

**"Sooo...no pressure."**

Naruto sweatdropped.

_'R-Right.'_

Inwardly, though, he felt a touch of pride. Shinobi. He hadn't been called that in a long while. Likely the namekian knew of this only because he'd read their mind, but the pride was there nonetheless. _That's right,_ pride swelled within his chest, _The last shinobi will not die on Namek. I will not fail. I will succeed...barring that, I'll just make sure no one wins. _So long as he had a single dragon ball, no one would be able to make a wish on his account.

"Just a moment." Naruto paused at Nail's voice. "Elder, aren't you forgetting something?" He could tell that it galled the namekian warrior to say such a thing.

"Ah, yes." Guru nodded. "The password. You may speak our language, but to unlock the power of the namekian dragonballs you will need to know it." He drew a deep breath. "Tell no one of this. The password is named after the namekian dragon himself...

"And that name would be?"

_"Porunga."_

"And the password?"

_"Takkaraputo popurunga pupirittoparo"._

The last shinobi rolled the words around in his mind, silently committing them to his shared memory.

**"I believe you owe me an apology."** Kyuubi's smugness was palpable, even inside his soul.

_'Alright, alright. Thanks for teaching me namekian...I guess.'_

**"You guess?!"**

_'Hey, that's all you're going to get outta me!'_

Turning his attention outward, and for the first time in many years, Naruto bowed.

"I won't forget this kindness, Guru."

With a nod and a kind word, Naruto bid farewell to Nail and Guru, knowing all the while that the latter did not have much time left. He tucked in the hood, careful to conceal his face from view. Frieza's men didn't know the true depth of his power yet. So long as he kept his face hidden, he had at least some chance of remaining hidden. Tucking the Dragon Ball under his arm, he strode to the the edge of the stone _precipiece_ careful as could be. As much as it pained him to admit it, he hadn't _quite_ mastered subtle nuances of flight just yet. Plummeting to his demise certainly wouldn't help matters any.

He didn't have one of those archaic scouters. He needed to be certain whether or not this planet held any unexpected surprises.

"Hmm?" He blinked. "Did you feel that?"

**"Yes."** Kurama confirmed. **"Its weak but-DON'T GO USING INSTANT TRANSMISSION!"**

Too late, Naruto thought as their joined body disaappeared...

* * *

...and reappeared before three very strange individuals.

One them was bald. Humorously so. A pair ot three vertical dots lined his forehead. There was little of note beyond that, and so his gaze shifted to the others. One them was a boy, barely above the age of ten. Hair in a bowl cut, his power level also of little import. And then there was the third. They were neither bald, nor were they a child. Light blue hair lofted around a heart-shaped face, from which eyes of azure shone. She was, far and away the strangest woman he'd ever seen, if her outfit and that _absurd_ spacecraft was any indication. Whereas the others suppressed theirs, her power level was practically nonexistent.

"What the devil?" Naruto blinked in surprise, the words escaping him. "What's someone like you doing in a place like this?"

The woman flushed.

"I-ah...um...

**"Hmph."** Kurama snorted.** "She's attractive enough, I suppose."**

Naruto grunted. He'd seen prettier. Oddly enough, what concerned him was not the woman, but her reasons for being here. Why possible reason could they have for coming to Namek now, of all times? Surely they had seen Frieza's spaceship. Unless they'd approached from the other side of the planet...

After an inordinate amount of time, one them, the boy, finally spoke.

"W-Who're you?"

"I could ask you the same question, gaki." Naruto mused aloud. "This planet is no place for tourists. Leave while you still can."

"We're not tourists!" The bald man exclaimed. "We're here for-

"Dragonballs!" The woman exclaimed suddenly, startling the lot of them. "Oh my gosh! Gohan! Krillin!" She thrust a finger forward imposingly, pointing. "Look what he's got under his right arm!" Naruto drew back, eye narrowed as the trio suddenly fixated upon the one-star Dragon Ball in his possession. _Lovely._ Someone was already after his dragonball! Well he wasn't about to let them have it! If these peons thought they could take it from him...they were welcome to try.

_'Shall we?'_

Kurama shrugged.

**"Now's as good a time as any to see how high we can take things with the first form. Try not to make them wet themselves."**

_'No promises.'_

"Please," Gohan pleaded. "We need that dragonball!"

"This is mine." Naruto snarled, power level rising under duress. "You can't have it until I make my wish!"

"He knows about the dragon balls?" The bald man_-Krillin?-_murmurred in disbelief. "How does he-whoa!" His eyes flew wide open as Naruto's power level suddenly spiked, eclipsing that of their own, threatening to throw them from their feet and lift them into the air. For the Z-Fighters, this wasn't much of a problem. But for Bulma Briefs...

"W-What's happening?!" The brilliant scientist exclaimed aghast, as she found herself lifted from Namekian soil. "Somebody do something! Help me! _Help!"_ She shrieked in dismay as she clung to the spaceship's spindly leg for support, screaming into the shrieking gale even as it fought to rip her from her perch. "Get me off this crazy ride! I've had enough!" Naruto threw back his head and _screamed:_ an inhuman howl beyond the voice of any mere mortal. Veins puled in his arms and neck, throbbing planitively as he pushed himself past his previous limits.

"H-He's strong!" Gohan gulped.

"No kidding!" Krillin swallowed nervously as the skies began to darken. "Where is he getting all this power?!"

_"Power?" _Naruto raised his power higher still, until Namek itself, quaked beneath their feet. "You know _nothing _of strength!" There could be no words to quantify the sudden surge of dread the Z-Fighters felt as his eyes snapped into a scintilating shade of scarlet. Simple sapphire smoldered away, warping into cruel crimson as his cowl clopped backwards, revealing his face; his hair standing on end. Sparks flashed. Lightning crashed as he pushed himself to a point where they realized resistance as utterly futile. Daylight darkened. Waves lashed agains the shore. And throughout it all, Naruto began to change.

Blond hair flashed crimson and stood on end. Whiskers, became deep troughs in his face, exposing sharpened canines. Fingernails, clenched into claws. Red lightning; thick, fat sparks, of pure energy, lanced outward, only to dissapear as Naruto raised his head to greet the Z-Fighters. Slitted eyes contemplated them cruelly, as though they were insects beneath his heel, beings to be crushed a this leisure. They stared down oblivion and stood their ground. Just barely.

The momen he spoke, that resistance crumbled.

_**"You want this dragonball?"**_ He growled at them, his dual/layered voice thick with challenge. _**"Try and take it!"**_

Krillin didn't even have time to blink as the blond-turned-rehead swooped at him, launched himself forward in a blur of black and blue. His cloak spreading out behind him, he swooped at the hairless warrior like a fierce predator drawing his clawed fist back to deliver a knockout blow. His clenched knuckles flew at the Z-Fighter, who caught it painfully in the stomach. Blood spurted past his lip as the clenched knuckles withdrew, leaving him to slump forward in defeat, cold and lifeless.

"Krillin!" Gohan exclaimed, eyes flying wide with rage. "Y-You monster! You killed him!" He flung himself forward with a cry of rage, determined to avenge his fallen friend. Naruto didn't even bother to defend himself as the enraged demi-saiyan lunged at him. The transformed redhead simply thrust his index finger forward, jabbing the enreaged child in the solar plexus. Dealing Son Gohan a similair though no less painful defeat. Bulma screamed as Goku's son collapsed, thinking the son of her best friend to be dead.

"Oh my god! What have you done to Gohan!"

Crimson eyes cut across her.

"The same thing I'm going to do to you if you don't be quiet!"

Bulma clapped both hands over her mouth. Kami! He was going to kill her, too!

_'Ohmygodohmygodohmygod..._

"Get up, boy." Naruto spat, nudging Gohan in the ribs with a booted foot. "I _know_ that wasn't enough to end you."

Gohan rolled onto his back and groaned.

"Krillin...

"He's fine." Naruto muttered, the effects of his transformation fading, his hair drooping, even as he spoke. "Just wait." Gohan risked a glance back as his fallen friend just in time to watch the bald warrior suck in a deep and ragged breath of relief. He clutched at his stomach, as though he'd half-expected to find a deep tear in his gut, not his uniform. He stood woodenly, not taking enough care. Sweat beaded his brow, and he was nigh but out of breath, but it was his pride that had suffered the debilitating blow, not his internal organs.

"Oh, man!" Krillin groaned. "You could've killed me!"

"And I will." The blond warned. "If _either_ of you try to take my dragon ball."

Bulma blinked rapidly, her eyes flutting open and shut with all the rapidity of a hummingbird's wingspan. He...He hadn't killed them? But how? She remembered his eyes _those awful red eyes,_ cutting her to pieces with a single stare. He'd seemed so merciless. So cruel. And yet...he hadn't killed them. Hadn't killed her, when he could've just as easily done so. He could've slaughtered the lot of them, and yet he'd held back. _Mercy._ He was capable of mercy, which meant at the very least he was kind soul. Maybe even gentle. But why oh why did he want the Dragon Balls-

"It's because I have a wish to make." Naruto shouldered the dragonball. "And I don't have time to waste on foolish wish-goers."

Bulma squeaked, such was her surprise.

_'Did he just-_

-read your mind?" Naruto finished with a small smile. "Why, yes. Yes, I did. It's a gift of mine, one that only seems to work on those that resemble my physiology."

"S-So all of that-

Naruto nodded.

-was just a demonstration."

"Will you please stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"My mind!" Bulm exclaimed in exasperation. "Stop reading my mind!"

Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes, the gesture oddly fox-like.

"I can't help it. Your thoughts are very open. You're practically projecting them."

'Wow.' Bulma blushed. 'He's...kinda cute when he does that.'

Now it was Naruto's turn to flush.

"You think so?" He grinned. "I'm flattered, really."

_"I SAID STOP! YOU STUPID SAIYAN!"_

Naruto bristled, all humour leaching out of his frame.

"What did you just call me?"

Krillin blanched.

"B-But, Bulma, this guy doesn't look like a saiyan...

"That's because I'm not!" Naruto hissed back, revolted to be thought of as such. "Don't you _dare_ compare me with those filthy primates! Ever!"

"My dad isn't filthy!" Gohan protested.

"That's right!" Krillin seconded. "Goku wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Goku?" Naruto blinked. "What the hell is a Goku?"

"He's a saiyan!"

Naruto hissed in a sharp intake of a breath. His gaze snapped back to Gohan. He should've noticed earlier.

"You're...the son of a...a saiyan? One of this muderous monkeys?!"

"Goku was sent to earth as a baby! He's never harmed anyone that didn't have it coming! And neither has Gohan!"

"What do you have against saiyan's anyway?" Bulma asked. "Did they do something to you?"

Naruto was red in the face, fists clenched, and emitting more than a small amount of killing intent. Bulma was about to say something when she watched him visibly gather himself, opening his fists and closing his eyes until his complexion was back to normal. When he opened his eyes again, their normal blue tint seemed more like winter ice than summer skies.

"They slaughtered my people, desecrated my planet and sold it off to the highest bidder," Naruto replied in an icy tone. "How's that for something?"

The silence was deafening.

"Well, crap." Krillin whispered.

"You humans know nothing." Naruto hissed. "Nothing at all." He gestured at their ship. "Go home. The whole planet's about to become one big battlefield and I've no intention of babysitting you."

"You're right." Bulma sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "We came here to save our friends, not to get caught up in an intergalatic war."

"I am?" The blond blinked. "Erm...of course I am!"

"Bulma!" Krillin guffawed. "You can't just decided that!"

"I can and I will."

"But-

"Gohan, Krillin?" Bulma asked in a deceptively mild voice. "Where should you be right now?"

"The ship?"

"THE SHIP!"

Both boys scattered up the gangway to do Bulma's bidding, leaving the last shinobi alone with the inventor. Naruto stared at her for a long moment, eyebrows knotted in frustration. Bulma's thoughts were like an open book to him; he already knew she had no intention of leaving. She'd merely sent Gohan and Krillin away to have a moment with him. Just as he knew that she, in her misbegotten naivete, would try to comfort him. He didn't need comforting, damnit. He wanted these stupid earthlings gone so he could resume his hunt for the Dragon Balls. She was a stranger to him! He wanted nothing from her! He laid the dragonball at his feet and placed a booted foot atop it, determined not to look at her as she came around to face him.

"Leave me alone, woman." he muttered, turning away, arms folded, petulant beneath her knowing stare. "You don't know me. I don't need your comfort."

"You might need it more than you think." she chided.

"And what makes you say that?"

Bulma's smile was so familiar it hurt to look at.

"Woman's intuition."

"Bah!" Naruto snorted. "You have no idea how many times I heard that one from Shi-

He mercilessly clamped down on the words, and his rising gorge. Even after all these years, he still couldn't say her name without experiencing a twinge of guilt. Of helplessness. For all his power back then, he'd been a weak little boy. If only he'd had _this_ power back then. None of this would've Immortality meant nothing _absolutely nothing_ when you had no one to share it with. It only meant eternal loneliness. He contemplated the

**"Then stop your bitching and find someone to share it with."**

_'I want to share it with Shion!'_

**"Kit, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think that's going to happen."**

_'And why not?'_

**"Just...a feeling."**

_'You're lying!'_ Naruto accused._ 'It will work! I'll make it work! Just you wait and see!'_

He turned his attention outward, scowling.

"Why do you want the dragonballs so badly?" she inquired, much to Naruto's ire.

"I already told you, woman, I have a wish to make."

"Then why don't you tell me what you're going to wish for?" Bulma asked. "C'mon, please! What could possibly be so important-

"My wife and child." Naruto responded flatly. He felt sick to his stomach for saying it, but the words had their desired effect. Shock and hurt twisted her expression, warping her soft smile into a strained grimace. Bulma looked as though she'd just been slapped. Naruto wanted to slap himself. She was a stranger to him, but he'd known that would hurt her. He'd known, and still, he'd said it. He'd been living like a monk ever since losing his world, and now, once again, he'd gone and fucked up any chance of a working relationship.

**"Nice job."**

_'Shut up...its not like she'd care, anyway.'_

He regretted the words the moment they'd echoed in his mind for the kitsune to hear.

**"Oh. My. God."**

_'SHUT up..._

**"You love her!"** Kurama accused.** "A complete stranger whom you've never met before, and you're head over heels for her! Oh my god kit! What are you doing?! Are you stupid or something?! If you like the wench that much just take her and bend her over a basin already! Kami knows she's willing!"**

_'SHUT UP!' as much as it pained him, Naruto forced himself to focus on the heiress of the Capsule Corp._

"I-I see...

Bulma's smile was heartbreaking. He could sense her every thought, read her every emotion. What little love she'd had for this "Yamcha" character, was all but gone in the wake of his death, and for some indefatigable reason she'd been hoping for something with him. Him! Of all people! He was the last of his race the most fucked up person in all of existence, and she actually saw something in him? No. Impossible! Absurd! He simply couldn't see himself settling down with anyone, not after Shion's death. And what's more, this Bulma woman didn't blame him for it, unlike all the others. Not even a tiddly bit. Her only thought was:

_Why are the good ones always taken?_

He sensed it coming, but even so, he couldn't quite bring himself to move. Whiskered cheeks brightened, burning an impossible shade of pink as her lips alighted upon them.

"Good luck." She whispered tearfully. "I," She swallowed, holding back the tears. "Hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

Naruto hissed out a breath.

"Woman."

"Yes?"

...thank you."

She opened her mouth to say something, decided against it.

"You're welcome."

With that, Bulna started to silently move away. Naruto quickly turned and reached out with his hand, grabbing her forearm. She froze. He took his hand and brought it slowly up to his face. His fingers cradled her cheek gently, fearfully, almost as if he expected she would vanish into a dream. To her disbelief the last shinobi rushed forward, snatching her up in his arms and kissing Bulma Briefs with an urgency that almost overwhelmed her. She lurched away with a start.

"W-What're you-

Naruto silenced her with another kiss, and this time, she didn't have the strength to pull away.

He was burning hot, even in the warm afternoon, and when their lips parted, he halted once more, holding her fearfully, as if they stood on a precipiece. Bulma reached up and gently touched his cheek as he had, and was surprised to feel tear there. She smiled, not all anger and edges as before, but softer, nervous. And then Naruto leaned in and kissed Bulma again, slower this time. He dared to move his lips over hers, to feel her shudder against him, to taste her tongue over his.

Kurama's groan of relief echoed his own.

**"About daaaamn time you found yourself a woman."**

_'Oh shu-you know what? Fuck you! I don't care!'_

His lips were soft, warm, and oh so inviting. She crumpled into him, the shock leaching from her features, leaving her strangely empty inside. But not for long. For as she tasted his lips, she succumbed to relief and to a strange, unsettling relief. Yamcha never kissed her like this. Yamcha was never with her like this. Those long, listless nights as she lie awake in bed, her heart beating against her breast, wrenching, in silent anticipation for someone that never came. She'd been torn up over his death, but in the end, it changed little she was still alone.

She shivered, a silent thrill coursing through her blood, her body, and warming her hips. She didn't care that they had an audience, that Gohan and Krillin might very well be watching from within the spaceship. Once she might have protested. Once, she would have chastised herself for such weakness; for letting her bones turn to jelly for letting herself slump against him, for _relying_ on him to support her lest she crumple lest she falter, lest she fall into this neverending bliss and be lost forever.

In the end, the sound of a ki blast jolted them from one another.

"What in the-

Even as Bulma registered the sound the last shinobi was already in motion. Twirling, spinning to place his body before hers, arm wrapped tight round her waist, he spun her away from the first explosion as a lance of light seared through the spaceship. Protecting her. Her cheeks flamed as his free hand rose, effortlessly slapping aside the blast as though it were but a baubble. His gaze snapped up and suddenly he was gone, hand and all. Moments later, two armored aliens joined her on the ground, writhing in pain. Half a hearbeat later, and Naruto returned her. The Dragonball had miracuously reappeared beneath his arm she noted, leaving a viscious tear in his brilliantly bright cape from where he'd deflected the last blast.

Crimson orbs regarded the broken bodies angrily.

"Damnit," He hissed through clenched teeth. "Are you alright?"

"I-I think so," Bulma mumbled, still reeling from the kiss, her senses slowly coming back to her. "But what about-

"The ship!" She turned her gaze back to the namekian spacecraft just in time for a powerful explosion to rock the island, consumingboth land and sea. Both aliens found themselves incinerated long before they could be interrogated, which was a blessing in disguise, considering Naruto's mood. Bulma watched it all from the air, only just now aware of her sudden ascent. She bit back a scream of surprise, before she realized what it was that held her aloft. Naruto's arm remained locked around her waist like a _vice_ all that kept her from plunging to her death below alongside their doomed vessel.

"Our ship...

"Bulma!" The inventor craned her neck as Gohan's voice reached her ears, alongside Krillin's. Relief blossomed in her eyes as she found both Z-Fighter's hovering a few yards opposite her, looking slightly singed, but no worse for the wear. Naruto was less than enthusiastic to see them unharmed.

"Imbeciles!" He hissed, glaring bloody red daggers at Krillin. "Why didn't you sense them coming?!"

Gohan tented his fingers.

"Well, um...we were distracted."

Naruto flushed as Bulma uttered a small 'meep' into his shoulder. He hadn't been aware of their audience.

"Yes...ah, I suppose that's understandable."

Krillin scratched at the back of his head.

"So...uh...I guess we're stuck here, huh."

Naruto groaned as he descended toward the nearest island

"You're going to regret saying that, little man." he set Bulma down gently before returning his attention to the bald warrior.

"Huh?"

"Because now you're trapped on this planet with Frieza and myself."

"That's a bad thing, isn't it?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reaffirm that, and froze.

**"That's strange."** Kurama mused. **"I could've sworn I sensed something just now."**

_'Me too..._

He stretched his senses outward, searching. Aside from the elder namek and his fellow namekians there really weren't any energy signatures of note. Yet. Oh, he could feel _Frieza_ in orbit doubtlessly descending through the atmosphere and toward the planet. But thoughts of the tyrant were forgotten as he saw a streak of light sear through the bright green sky. He'd seen that very same streak before in the thousands, streaking across the night sky of his homeworld. Memories of fire and flame faded, replaced by a white hot fury. That was a saiyan space pod! He was about to follow it when a second space pod hurtled past, carroming into the distance and over the horizon. Naruto remained fixated on the first as it careened across the water before splashing down in the distance. Which once should he-

**"The first one."** Kurama decided for him. **"It's closer."**

Crimson flared around him at the thought.

_**"Saiyan...!"**_

Naruto didn't so much as bat an eyelash at Bulma's cry of surprise. He simply took off uncaring, in the direction of the smoke. He could've sworn he heard them utter a name. Ve-something or whatever. It didn't matter one iota to him. If there was a saiyan within that pod, then they would die. The landscape blurred before him in hues of varying greens and blues, melding together as he hurtled past, the water erupting behind in in an unmistakeable trail of destruction. Small islands burst before his passing, shattering like so much dust as he hurtled toward the smoke into a obscure likeness of his own state of mind.

He set down upon a nearby hillock to enjoy his vantage over the saiya space craft. He'd be ready and waiting when they emerged. The second the bastard emerged he'd blast them to kingdom come! He waited, tensing with anticipation, ready to deal the final blow the moment the man emerged.

A lone warrior emerged from battered space pod, wasting no time in extricating themself from the smoldering debris. Naruto watched from afar with intent. Watched, her. For she was emphatically female. Clad in blue fabric, wearing no more than a simple, armored vest, she truly was a sight to behold. Harsh black eyes scanned her surroundings, assessing what could and could not be used. She risked a glance to her left, hazarded one to her right, as though to make certain she was indeed alone.

"Hmmph."

Satisfied she began her ascent, cresting the lip of the crater in long smooth strides. A saiyan. This woman was a saiyan, from spiky head to booted toe. And what a saiyan she was. Her form fitting suit clung to her body in all the right places, snug, but not tight. Firm and sensible. Even from here, he could hear her voice, deep and husky. A woman's voice.

"It's time," she hissed out, her every word oozing a sick, sweet, satisfaction. "Time to remove the only obstacle standing in my way. Once the Dragon Balls are in my possession, all the power of eternal life will be mine and then no one will be able to stop me. Not even the mighty Frieza!" Scowling, she affixed the scouter in hand to the side of her face, she scowled. "What? I'm already picking up a power level...a big one! Over there!"

_"Shit!"_

Naruto cursed himself even as her gaze snapped in his direction. _Crap!_ He'd forgotten to suppress his newfound power! Hastily he pushed it down, drove it under, but it was already too late. The saiyan had already seen him, and what's more, she _sensed_ him. Even as he edged backwards and out of sight she flung herself forward, bursting toward his position in a streak of azure light. She alighted effortlessly upon a nearby hillock mere feet away, eyes hot with fury. Placing one hand upon her hip, she glanced him up and down appraisingly.

"Who are you?" She demanded haughtily. "Why were you spying on me?"

Naruto almost choked, such was his surprise. Up close, the saiyan woman was much smaller than he'd thought. Petite. Slender. He bit back the word he wanted to say. _Short._ He had to fight off the sudden urge to laugh at her. Doubtless, she did not take kindly to rude remarks. He'd no reason to fear her, however. Defeating the monkey, would be akin to snuffing out a candle; requiring only minimal effort. He wouldn't even have to transform. Pity. His body growled at the thought, eyes flaring. The urge to kill her was so strong, he actually had to take a moment and physically restrain himself. This woman...she, reminded him of someone, of a saiyan youth he'd once had the misfortune of meeting during his training.

She'd been sent to cleanse a planet of all life at the same time that he happened to be dwelling upon it. Overconfident in his newfound abilities, he'd challenged her to a fight. She'd handed his ass back to him right and proper on a silver platter. He pushed the memory away with disgust. This full-bodied woman was certainly not that insufferable youth. They might have the same hairstyle perhaps, but nothing more. Besides even were they the same person, the odds of that were, what?

**"Very, very slim."** Kurama reminded him. **"Probably died when Frieza obliterated the planet. Such a shame. As much as I hate those filthy monkeys _that_ one would've made a fine mate. She might've given you strong half-breeds, too...when she was older."**

Naruto shuddered at the thought of lying with a saiyan.

_Oooh, we are _not_ talking about that.'_

**"Then mayhaps you should dodge."**

_'Eh?'_

"Stop spacing out!"

He danced backwards, his head leaning away from her jab. _Weak._ He scowled. She hadn't even been able to hit him when he'd been unfocused. He immediately pegged her as weaker than Nail. At least the namek, had been able to strike him. Not hurt him mind you, but he'd certainly been surprised. But with her...

"Don't delude yourself, saiyan." He waved her ire away. "I've no business with weaklings such as yourself. I was merely investigating your arrival." He moved to push past her. As much as he might _want to_ he'd no time to exterminate this filthy monkey woman. "Farewell, saiyan."

Her hand closed around his shoulder.

"Wait." Her voice had dropped to a breathy sigh, tickling at the nape of his neck now as she spoke. "What's that you have there? Under your arm."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded his once hated foe. A look of irritation crossed his single eye as it regarded the intent saiyan woman. What on earth was she talking about? All he had under his arm was the-

_Dragon Ball._

Naruto froze. He'd forgotten all about the one-star ball under his arm. He

_'Oh, I am become error.'_ he swore at himself.

"That's...That's a dragonball!" She exclaimed aghast. "W-Where did you get that?!"

"I don't see how its any of your business." he remarked coldly, sweating inwardly. "This is my dragonball. Not yours." _Great._ Just great! He'd only just gotten his first dragonball and already someone was trying to steal it out from under him! Needless to say, he was _not_ amused when the saiyan_-filthy monkey!-_tried to snatch it out of his hands. Rage bloomed like a flower across his face, warping his features into a scowl. _Spinning._ He swatted her hand away in utter contempt; an angry parent denying a petulant child their cookie.

_Damn woman wanted the cookie!_ **(Seriously loled when I wrote this part. Go ahead. LAUGH!)**

"Give it here!" She exclaimed. "I need that dragonball!"

"I beg your pardon?!"

She lunged at him anew, slinging a barrage of blows at his face.

"Give it here or I'll send you straight to hell!"

**"Crazy woman!"**

_'No kidding!'_

Naruto guffawed and stepped backward in the same instant, clutching the dragonball against his chest all the while. Her strikes were precise; deadly accurate, but painfully slow. To him, at least. He skipped backwards, careful to shield the Dragonball from her grasping fingers, evading her attacks all the while. Fury contorted her features, her intent expression warping into a scowl, as she failed to strike him, failed to wrest the sphere from his fingers. If anything, she was doing a fine job of making an absolute fool of herself. He wasn't even using his hands! Only his legs!

"Fight back, coward!" she shrieked, her hands pumping like pulleys, hurtling strike after strike towards that insufferable smile. Each time she found herself blocked by a knee or calves. Each time, she succeeding only in miring herself further in anger, exhausting her own energy while her opponent remained fresh as a daisy. At last she could strike no more. She gasped for air that refused to come. Her arms and legs felt like _lead_ heavy and useless to her after such a strenuous attack. And she hadn't struck him so much as once.

Naruto regarded her intently, resting upon a planted foot. The Dragonball gleamed in the light of the sun, tantalizingly close-insufferably so!-yet it might as well been halfway across the galaxy. She could not touch him, nor could she claim it. As much as it galled her to admit it, this opponent seemed beyond her. And this probably wasn't even the beginning of his true power.

"Do you really want me to fight back?" Naruto asked, incredulous as he gazed upon the sweat-soaked saiyan. "You say that now, but you might come to regret it."

"Don't you dare insult me!" She huffed, gasping for breath. "I am the Princess of Saiyans! _You_ have no right to immortality! I do!"

_Prin-cess...?_

Blue eyes bulged.

Oh dear. This woman...she couldn't possibly be-

"Oi..." He began slowly. "Woman."

The Saiyan snarled.

"My name is not woman, damn you!"

Naruto hissed out an expletitve

"Then what the hell is it?!"

_**"VEGETA!"**_

The silence was deafening.

_"Vegeta?"_

A muscle jumped in her jaw. Indecision flickered in her eyes, those black orbs hot with _hate _flickering from him to the dragon ball, and back again. For what seemed like an eternity, it looked like she would lunge at him again. Thankfully, she did not. Drawing herself up, she stared at him intently, as though truly seeing him for the first time. She tried to see through the darkness hiding his face _tried_ to peer through his cowl, and ended with a shake of her flustered little head.

"Have we...met?"

"Aha!" Naruto exclaimed, louder this time, his voice rising to a roar of disbelief. "It _is_ you! Oh, you have gotta be fucking kidding me!"

**"Ha!"** Kurama crowed.** "Of all the luck! I never thought we'd see her alive again!"**

"Remove your hood at once so that I may see your face!" Vegeta demanded loudly.

_'I just know I'm going to regret this.'_

Naruto complied, drawing on the string that held the cowl in place. Blue eyes the color of winter skies burned back at her.

"Recognize me now?"

Behind Vegeta's pale skin, the slow flushing of her face looked almost like a growing forest fire, and she seemed literally unable to catch her breath. Oh, yes. She remembered. She burned at the memory, of how easily he'd been able to touch her, however brief it might had been. How soundly she'd beaten him afterwards. And now he was here. Standing before her. Opposing her, dragonball tucked under his arm denying her the very thing she sought, that same smug little from before, filling his every feature. Unthinking in her exasperation, she lashed out in anger. It was a mistake.

"Y-You?!" She sputtered, incredulous, her face flush with rage. "You dare to stand in my way once more?!"

"How was I supposed to know you'd be here?!" Naruto snapped back, his forehead jarring against hers, sparks shooting from their eyes. "Insolent woman!"

"Arrogant bastard!"

"I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

_"Fine!"_

Naruto growled.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand." He let his power spike for the briefest instant, reveling in her dumbfounded expression. _"Saiyan." _Naruto nearly surprised himself. He was careful to reign the power in before it rose to a noticeable level but the knowledge that he'd been holding this much power inside him truly was a wonder to behold. He couldn't quite restrain the cold sneer of superiority. _Oh_ how the tables had been turned! He remembered when he couldn't hold a candle to her at the very beginning of his training. Now...when her fist struck him-

It was like punching a brick wall.

Bone ground against bone and the former yielded, holding her aching arm in silent agony.

"You...what the hell are you?!"

"The hell was that?" Naruto scoffed, utterly unfazed by her attack. "You call that a punch? He tucked the dragon ball behind his back and cocked a fist. "Now, this-

**WHAM!**

_-is a punch!"_

It really was a good punch, Vegeta mused, as she felt the breath leave her lungs. Powerful enough to knock her back three paces and rock the arrogance right out of her. She sank to her knees, clutching at her broken armor, at what was surely a gaping wound, most likely a terrible tear in her stomach...

...and found nothing. Her armor had indeed been shattered at the stomach, but there was no blood to be seen. Nor was there any sort of wound.

"So, you're one of Frieza's men now." she accused.

"I am most certainly am not." Naruto snorted. "Still, I must admit, I _am_ surprised. I thought Frieza had eradicated the lot of you filthy monkeys." Derision dripped into his words. "Alongside your petty little planet." She hissed back at him, Vegeta did, her teeth grinding together with such force she accidentally chipped a molar. She barely even felt it, such was her rage.

"How dare you?!"

"How dare I?" Naruto snarled. "How dare you! Your people massacred my village! My world! You deserved your fate!"

"What of it?!" Vegeta spat back. "It was probably some backwater planet anyway! Why should I care!"

"What. Was. That?"

Inwardly, Kyuubi faceplamed.

**"Kit...don't."**

_'She's crossed the line!'_

**"Fool! We need all the allies we can get!"**

_'She's a saiyan, damnit!'_

**"Then at least get rid of the spy!"**

_'Spy?'_

**"On your six."**

_'I don't sense any-ah.'_

"We have a guest." His gaze cut across from Vegeta. "Six o' clock."

Before Vegeta could reply, the blond raised a hand and summarily obliterated a nearby boulder. A shout of surprise echoed off the rocks as none other than Cui came thrashing out of the rubble and into view. He'd been in hiding all this time, secretly waiting for his chance to strike. Now, that chance was denied him. Even as he struggled to see, to peer through the smoke, a gloved hand struck him in the jugular, puncturing his throat a heartbeat later and silencing him forever. Naruto buzzed into existence above him, fingers splayed.

"Congratulations." Naruto sneered down at Cui from the length of his arm. "You've managed to piss me off one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now, would you kindly...DIE?"

Cui gurgled a reply, choking on his own blood.

"Any last words?" Naruto asked conversationally. "None? Too bad. Bye!"

The alien's last sight was that of hellish crimson before he found his spirit ushered into hell. To describe his death beyond that was pointless. His ashes drifted away to rejoin the sea, leaving the saiyan princess, and the last shinobi alone with their thoughts and one another. Naruto wiped the blood from his hand. Vegeta massaged her aching stomach. Neither was willing to breach the impasse. Neither wanted to risk exposing themself to Frieza through a prolonged battle. Indeed, it was an impasse. And at last, the Princess of all Saiyans herself was the one to break it.

"Uzumaki," Vegeta began, sullenly. "I despise you. I loathe you; abhor your very existence-

"Yeah, well the feeling is mutual, Vegeta!"

"Will you shut up and let me finish?!"

"...oh, alright."

"However," she choked on the words. "I understand that your power is...g-g-grea...

"Greater?"

Vegeta managed a stiff, uncomrpomising nod.

"I can't believe I'm asking this but...as the Princess of my race, I demand that you offer me your assistance!"

Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Oh, come off it you buffoon!"

Naruto guffawed.

_"You want to work together?"_

**A/N: Aaaaaaand cut. Hope you liked it! Nine transformations for Naruto. That's right. _Nine._ And they are NOT the jinchuuriki forms despite what you might think. They're something else something beyond the chakra shroud and sage mode, though he can still access both at will. Naruto's got quite the plethora of skills under his belt, just don't be expecting him to bust out ninjutsu on nearly a every occasion. I mean, would a rasengan even hurt Frieza?! **

**Also, Bulma and the others arrived four days early, because we're skippping that stupid filler crap. Hence the reason they arrived just before Frieza did. And oh my, does Bulma have a thing for our Naruto-kun? This cannot possibly end well...thankfully I intend to make her less annoying in the coming chapters.**

**Finally, we see which saiyan took the genderbending pill. For those of you who guessed it...yup! Vegeta's the unlucky one! Goku will stay true to his usual male self, but that is the only promise I'll be a' making for this fic, lads and lassies! Other characters may or may not be genderbent in the coming chapters upon their introductions, depending on the feedback I get. Frieza? Ermm...He is a dude, right? Honestly the prospect of a FEMALE frieza scares me even more than the original, so I don't think I'll go for that.**

**What will Naruto's answer be? Whad do YOU think it'll be? Will these hated rivals work together? Or are they doomed to fail? Find out next time...ON THE LAST SHINOBI!**

**Anywho, I'm off to work now and I look forward to reading your reviews upon my return. I sincerely hope you liked it so...**

**...REVIEW, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**

**R&R! =D**


	3. Close Encounter

**A/N: Someone made a point about Vegeta. She really ought to look a bit different from her make counterpart. So here's a link. Go to Deviantart zetsubuodigital and look up the picture titled what have I done. The top picture is Vegeta. THAT is what she looks like in this ficlet! I strongly suggest you follow this author's note first before reading further. And on that note, thank you and enjoy the story after you look at the picture!**

**...Enjoy, I tell you!**

_"Women...so troublesome!"_

_~Uzumaki Naruto_.

**Close Encounter**

Bulma Briefs prided herself on practicality.

She paced anxiously where they'd left her, here in the cave. Shortly after Naruto's departure Gohan and Krillin had gone to investigate another rash of attacks on the namekians. They thought it wise to gather as many dragonballs as they could while the last shinobi kept the saiyan princess busy. Leaving her to her own devices and her own boredom.

Pacing certainly didn't help matters any.

_Naruto..._

She shook her head, frantically, rapidly, desperate to drive the memory of him_-of his lips!-_from her mind. It was easier said than done. She'd only just met him, only just met this last shinobi, and he'd kissed her _kissed her _as though it were nothing. Yamcha had never kissed her like that. But Naruto had. Naruto whom she knew nothing about, save that the saiyans had exterminated his race and he had a wife and child. Bulma had no intention of being a quick midnight romp or some giddy, brainless fangirl. She was determined to learn more about this shinobi, even if it should cost her her life.

"Naruto, wherever you are...be careful."

* * *

Naruto nearly sneezed out the words.

"You want to work together?"

Vegeta grimaced and managed a stiff nod, as though the very effort pained her.

"Say something already, fool!"

The Last Shinobi was incredulous, to say the least. This woman, this saiyan, wanted to work together?! The very thought made his blood boil. He wanted nothing to do with her! She was weaker than him! She probably couldn't even handle the Zarbon in his transformed state! No, to ally with her was to invite disaster upon himself. He was already an immortal in most sense of the word as he could not easily be killed but he could still be_...inconvenienced_ and where Frieza was concerned, that was quite the possibility. And then there was the nasty little voice in his head screaming at him to _kill kill kill this stupid monkey kill her now before she gets any stronger or you'll end up dead within the week-_

**"Are you seriously going to off this wench?"**

Ah yes, aaand then there was the other voice. The one that wanted him to bed this insufferable creature! He'd sooner sleep with a namek!

_'I'm considering it, yes.'_

**"Sleeping with a namek?"**

_'Wha-OF COURSE NOT! They're all male!'_

**"To your knowledge."**

_'Excuse me?'_

**_"Nothing!"_**

_'Sometimes I get the succint feeling you're keeping secrets from me..._

**"Whatever gave you that idea?"**

_'Oh, nothing.'_

**"Regardless you might want to hurry make up your mind."** Came the kitsune's warnining. "**Frieza's already planet bound and he's going to be actively searching for you now. You know he's not one to suffer a slight like this...**

_'Alright, I've made my decision.' _the last thing he wanted was an immortal saying running amok across the universe. That, and he wasn't exactly fond of Vegeta, given their tumultuous history. He almost laughed at the consideration he'd given it; the possibility of allying himself with a saiyan. It was no good in the end, after all. No. If he had to surrender his wish to anyone, those earthlings seemed as good a choice as any. With those thoughts, his mind settled back on Bulma and the heated kiss they'd sared _Why the hell did I do that?_ He'd read her mind, to be sure. Perhaps that had influenced him. He didn't kiss girls at random, anymore. Not since Shion. Not since happier times.

"Say something!" Vegeta demanded, fiddling with a lock of hair while refusing to meet his gaze. "I demand you answer me!"

**"Aaaaw, look."** Kurama cackled. **"She's flustered."**

_'Then she's gonna love this.'_

Naruto drew a deep breath and promptly released it while crossing both arms in an X formation.

"I refuse!"

Her eyes cut across him like a knife.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no." Naruto uncrossed his arms for emphasis, turning both thumbs toward Namek's fertile soil. "I don't want to work with someone like you."

_"Are you calling me weak?"_

"I'm certainly not saying you're strong, saiyan!"

"I knew it!" Vegeta shrilled. "You're mocking me, aren't you?!"

Naruto shrugged helplessly.

"I can't let you have immortality, either." A forlorn look entered his eyes. "Eternal life isn't all its cracked up to be."

"And how would you know?!"

"Because _I'm_ immortal." Naruto replied, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Well, almost. I won't age a day. I'll always look like this."

"You think that'll dissuade me?" Vegeta exclaimed aghast, gawping at the temerity of the blond. "I am an elite! A warrior! I don't have to listen to the lies of a trickster like you!"

"Trickster?!" Naruto spat back, red in the face at her insinuation. "How does being a shinobi make _me_ a trickster?!"

"You don't fight honorably!"

"There are no rules in battle, woman!" he countered. "The strong survive, the weak perish!"

"So I _am_ weak to you, aren't I?!" the last princess accused heatedly, jabbing a finger at the last shinobi. "You think that gives you the right to kill me?! Well," Aura flaring, she took to the skies. "You won't snuff me out so easily, shinobi!" Bemused, Naruto watched her retreat, mentally counting the seconds it took for the arrogant princess to distance herself from him. When he reached _thirty_ his smile inexplicably brightened. A flicker of motion and he was gone. The briefest sensation of pressure on her cheek was Vegeta's only warning before she sensed his ki.

His attack came with no such warning.

For an instant she hung there, his knuckles grinding into her firm jaw, her face squishing inwards from the harsh blow. And then she was surrounded by water. She sucked in a breath on reflex, gagging as the saltwater filled her lungs, the pressure of the sea pushing her down into the depths of the ocean._ Damn you!_ Her body erupted into motion, sending her screaming toward the surface. Air! She sucked in a ragged breath as sense after sense returned to her, sight and sound returning only reluctantly.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Vegeta's gaze snapped upward just in time for another blast of cursed crimson to swell before her vision. She flickered away, wincing at her now gloveless hand, the fabric having smoldered away from her fingertip long before she could escaped the blast. Shrieking her fury, she ascended, blue fire enveloping her body as it screamed toward the heavens. She had to get away from this man. He was too strong for her. Maybe even strong enough to face Frieza. But none of that mattered if she wound up dead!"

She struck something in midflight. Something solid. Solid enough to halt her ascent in its tracks.

"I'm over here~" Naruto's sing-song voice danced in her ear a moment before she recognized him. She swung around, her fist striking an afterimage.

"Coward!" She accused the empty air. "Come out here and fight!"

_"If you insist."_

A foot slammed into her back, sending her plummeting towards the ground. She plowed into the earth below and immediately leapt up and away, narrowly avoiding another kick that surely would've crushed her skull to ribbons. She flew upwards as Naruto peered up at her from the crater in the ground below her . Vegeta immediately hurled a volley of energy downwards, a barrage of ki blast connecting into the ground with a massive explosion. Naruto appeared above the blasts almost immediately, his blue and black body buzzing into existence a few inches behind Vegeta's disbelieving face. He pushed an open palm into her back and her black eyes widened in surprise as a swirl of sinister sapphire sizzled at her chest.

"_Rasengan."_

The black _blast _roared forward and tore against Vegeta's body. The attack had been too close for her to block, much less avoid; she had no choice but to take the strike directly to the back of her chest. She flew back in agony as the dark wave ripped at her face and chest, her armor burning away from her flesh. The blast seemed to last for aeons before blowing past the saiyan princcess as gravity took over, her body spiraling towards the ground limply.

She hit the soil of Namek with a thud, her limbs trembling slightly as sensation returned to her hands. She immediately struggled to rise, jabbing the edge of her gloved hand into the ground and forcing herself up from her back._ I am a saiyan!_ she seethed, her gloved fingers grinding against the ground. _A princess! I will not be defeated here! Not by him! Not by-_

Naruto appeared before her with a buzz, immediately slamming a fresh blow into her stomach. Vegeta growled in rage and pain and frustration as the attack pushed her back against the loamy soil. Naruto looked down at her with emotionless eyes, his azure orbs completely calm in the face of Vegeta's fury. His boot smashed into her stomach, shattering the armor there.

"You should never have raised your hand against me, saiyan."

_"Screw you!"_ Vegeta spat as blood bespeckled her lips and chin. "You think _this_ is enough to kill _me_?"

Naruto smiled.

"No, but _this_ might."

He opened the fingers of his hand, revealing yet another Rasengan clenched tight within. Only, this one resembled more a shuriken than a sphere. And it was growing larger with each passing second. Vegeta stiffened a heartbeat later, her eyes bulging at the familiar sight of the shrieking sphere. An audible hum filled her ears, confirming her suspicions and her worst fears. That technique of his! She recognized it!

"Rasenshuriken." Naruto announced proudly. "It packs quite the wallop, as I'm sure you remember. Now, I wonder what would happen if I shoved this into your face?"

Vegeta redoubled her efforts to escape.

"Baka!" She shouted up at him. "You can't! You won't!"

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't!" Naruto replied, his words colder than even the vaccum of space. "After the beating you gave me last time, I've half a mind to end you here and now!"

"Frieza's the one you should be after, not me!"

"Your motives aren't exactly pure, either! Besides," He flexed the fingers of his hand for emphasis. "I know all about your saiyan physiology. Were I to crush you here, you'd grow stronger still. If you attack me, then I'll simply kill you where you stand. One less monkey to worry about, I suppose."

Vegeta bristled beneath the weight of his words.

"Y-You...how dare you?!" She reached up at him and sank her teeth into his leg. Naruto yelped in surprise, the rasenshuriken vanishing as he lost his concentration. Vegeta disappeared before he could countermand her for her behavior, erupting from the earth with such speed that she momentarily startled the last shinobi. But not for long.

Naruto barely even felt her fist as it smashed into his face; he'd had worse bug bites. Arms and legs crashed into his neck, stomach, solar plexus and thigh each moving as though wading through water. He had to force himself not to block. Lamentable. It was akin to being struck by an infant. Vegeta screamed in frustration and lashed out _low_ her heel rocketing upward toward his groin. Naruto didn't so much as bat an eyelash. A slow sinister smile wormed across way across his visage as he stepped aside, shattering the facade he'd worked so hard to build over the last four years.

_My turn._

Naruto moved effortlessly and suddenly, bringing his elbow around hard. His first swat knocked Vegeta off her feet. The second sent her sprawling. Naruto followed her, weaponless, but with his fingers curled in vicious claws, fingers closing around the lappels of her armored vest. Strong arms forcibly dragged the saiyan princess upw, hauling her off her feet and into he air. He raised his left hand again, this time for a blow that would rip Vegeta's head off.

"Goodnight," he hissed, fingers crackling with restrained energy. "Sweet princess."

_Not like this._ Tears stung Vegeta's eyes anew, but she refused to let them fall._ I cannot allow it to end like this!_

Naruto flung his hand forward, fingers sharpened into a point.

Before he could strike the final blow, however, his senses exploded. A massive aura of overwhelming ki drenched him, leaving him awash in panic and disbelief. And it was coming from across the planet. He both knew and feared the owner of that power, but as his senses gravitated toward it, he sensed two smaller, weaker powers, not far off. Dodoria and Zarbon were present of course, but it was not them that he sensed. Rather, it was whom he sensed that eradicated all ideas of revenge.

"Idiots!" Naruto hissed, dropping Vegeta like a sack of potatoes, his vengeance momentarily forgotten. "I told them to stay put! I'm sensing Frieza in that direction!" He fired haphazardly at the saiyan as she fell but the princesss dodged aside, the shockwave sweeping her from her feet and into the ocean. Naruto watched her body sink for a moment longer, suddenly hesitant. Was she dead? Could he afford to wait? Already, he could feel the Namekian people fighting, falling, fading. As much as he might want to, didn't have time to go down there and eliminate her.

Pressing two fingers to his forehead, he vanished once more.

Seconds later, Vegeta's head broke the surface.

* * *

Gohan and Krillin could only look on in horror as Frieza

"Dodoria," The Tyrant sneered. "It's time-

**-for you to die."**

The pink mutant didn't even have time to scream. All that emerged was a wet, rasping gurgle, as a gloved fist exploded out of his chest. Eyes bulging in disbelief, he stared down the length of the bloodsoaked arm, and over his shoulder. Uzumaki Naruto stared back at him, still and silent as a god, his chiseled visage betraying nothing as he closed the fingers of his fist and squeezed. Dodoria felt, rather than saw his heart explode, that fleshy organ weeping purple blood as the blonde tore his hand free from gluttonous buffoon's torso, taking the alien's cold, unfeeling heart with it.

Leaving his dead, unmoving corpse to slump to the ground, and the dragonball to roll to a halt at Naruto's feet. A stray breeze snared his cowl and wrested it away, exposing a pair of baleful _blazing_ red orbs to the light of day. The remaining namekians gawped in surprise at their mysterious saviour. Krillin and Gohan were of a different mind on that matter.

"What in the-

"It's him!" Gohan guffawed. "He came back!"

"Ohoho, so you came after all." Frieza chortled, utterly unaffected by the loss of one of his top minions. "You always were too kind-hearted to suffer the loss of life." His gaze drifted to the ball clutched beneath the arms of the blond. "And you even brought me a dragonball. How very kind of you." Despite himself, Naruto edged backwards. Stupid! He cursed himself. Now look what you've done! Moments ago he'd thought only of saviing the nameks and the earthlings, not himself. He simply hadn't considered his safety a top priority. Now, however...

**"Now, you've gone and screwed us over."** Kurama reminded him acidly. **"We were supposed to avoid Frieza, remember! Not confront him directly!"**

'A little late for that, wouldn't you say?' Naruto's words were sheepish.

**"Ya think?!"**

"Be a dear and hand over the ball, would you?" Frieza asked, beckoning with faux-politeness. "We wouldn't want to make a mess of things now, would we?"

Naruto held the dragonball tight.

"Picking on the weak." he hissed. "Flaunting your strength...

"I'll give you one last chance." the overlord decided. "Give me the ball and beg for forgiveness. If you do that, I'll let the nameks go. What do you say?" Naruto risked a glance over his shoulder. He didn't trust Frieza as far as he could throw him-rather ironic, considering-just as he knew the cold ruler delighted in the taking of life, even if it was for sport. Honestly, first Vegeta, and now Frieza. Did everyone think him a fool? Fury flared in his eyes as he took one, final step to the south.

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Filthy cur!" Zarbon hissed, rounding on him. "You dare to spurn Lord Frieza's mercy!"

_"Spurn this!"_

Zarbon managed only half a turn before the blonde's heel cracked across his face, driving him backwards. The blow didn't so much stagger as it did stun, presenting him with the much needed opportunity to snatch the dragonballs away from the strangely clad alien and hurl them into the air. Gohan blinked in surprise, startled to find one of them in his arm, Krillin's the other. With both balls secured, Naruto was free. Free to bring the brunt of his attention to bear upon Zarbon once more. He pressed two fingers to his head, and two unto the alien's cheek.

"Say hello to Vegeta for me!" Naruto cackled as he teleported the scantily clad alien halfway across the planet. With any luck, the two of them would kill each other assuming the latter was even alive. And with each ball now in the hands of his unlikely allies, he was free to bring his wrath to bear upon his true opponent.

_"Frieza!"_

The overlord's head snapped around just in time to find itself the product of a painful fist to the face. Naruto's knuckless had collided with the alien's jaw. _Violently._ The sheer size of the impact sent the overlord hurtling out of his hover craft and into the air, and the last shinobi was quick to follow; crimson enveloping his body as he surged upward after the self-proclaimed ruler of the universe. Shockwaves roiled across land and sea as the two overlords collided, each vying for supremacy over the other; striking with movements too quick for the human eye to comprehend.

"W-Wow." Krillin gawped up at the lightshow. "Do you feel that Gohan? That's a lot of power! He might be able to beat this guy-

No sooner had he said this than the blond came crashing to the ground. The loose soil burst beneath his return to earth, digging a deep trough as he came to rest at their feet. Blue eyes snapped open, sapphire shifting into a shade of sinister scarlet. Krillian and Gohan exchanged a glance, with the former hazarding the question on both their minds.

"Um...are you okay?"

"Why are you still here?!" Naruto hissed up at them. "Take the dragonballs and go!"

"But-

"GO!"

He jerked upright, his hair snapping into scarlet just as Frieza descended upon them. His left hand locked around the overlord's right wrist. His right, clasping against the alien's fist. Namek cratered beneath their power as though the land itself were recoiling in fear from the violent energies each overlord exuded. Crimson and violet auras flared. Veins bulged. Muscles throbbed violently power spking as the two rulers struggled to asert their dominance over one another, succeeding only in sundering the earth even further.

"Gohan!" Krillin hollered. "You heard the man! We gotta go!"

But the demi-saiyan lingered.

"We can't just leave him!"

"Oooh, yes you can!" Naruto snarled through clenched teeth. "This is my fight! Leave me to it!" His head snapped forward in a violent motion; flesh jarring against bone, and the latter yielded to the former. Blinking the subsquent spots out of his eyes, the overlord scrubbed at his face with the back of a hand.

"You," He seethed, "You worm! You insignificant little speck! How dare you strike me!"

"Like this!" Naruto snapped back, driving his knuckles deep into the overlord's gut. "And this!" He cried, lashing out once more. "And this and this and this and _thiis!"_ The saiyan fatigues worn by the alien splintered and cracked under the wrath of his knuckles; deep fissures driving themselves acrosss the supposedly indestructible armor. Frieza's eyes flashed angrily and two beams cut through the blonde's arm. Naruto grunted in what Gohan assumed to be surprise, blinking as the limb was severed from his body, fingers wriggling uselessly as the nerves struggled to receive signals once more. He frowned.

"You sonuva bitch!" he roared. "Now I have to grow a new one!"

"What?!"

A savage kick sent the alien overlord hurtling backward, placing distance between them. It was enough.

Naruto raised the stump of his arm and screamed. Screamed, as a new limb burst into existence, flawlessly replacing what had been taken. It was as if he'd never lost a limb. Flexing his fingers, he nodded, satisfiied by the replacement limb. Flicking the bodily fluids aside, he returned his attention the overlord once more.

"That's an interesting power." Frieza observed as he descended to the earth. "I'll have to make note of that one."

_Cocky little..._

"You'll be making plenty of notes before we're done here." Naruto growled. "In hell!"

"Funny," Frieza chuckled. "Here I was, thinking the exact same thing."

"Eh?"

"Only it will be you who dies, not me!"

"What're you-

Frieza's response, was to raise a single finger. Naruto froze. Froze, as a giant orange sphere appeared above the lone digit, swelling and expanding at an alarming rate. Blue eyes bulged as the light of the supermassive nova overshadowed him. Energy. So much energy. Too much energy! Namek couldn't handle something like that!

"W-W-W-W-What is that?!" Krillin sputtered in fear and disbelief as he saw the swelling sphere. "Don't tell me he's going to-

-destroy the planet?!" a quivering Gohan finished for him.

"You fool!" Naruto roared to make himself heard over the wind. "What are you doing?! You'll destroy Namek and the dragonballs with her!"

Cackling, Frieza flicked the finger forward and with it, the planet's destruction.

**"Kit!"**

Naruto closed his eyes.

_'I know!'_

Sparks hissed and spat round his body; taut with concentration. It'd been years since he last tried this trick. Even so, the energy came to him swiftly to him as he stood still. Still as a stone, with death, thundering like a freight train straight at him. Energy erupted within him, lighting a fire deep within his soul. When his eyes drifted open they were a deep, slitted gold, dusted with orange, lining the length of his lids. Inverted irises gave the Death Ball a percursory glance, regarding the blazing sphere of doom as though it were no more than a mere dust mote before this old, familiar power. The power of a sage.

_Sennin Mode._

Nostalgia threatened to overwhelm him, but he pushed it aside. Namek had precious little energy to draw upon, so this wouldn't last long. Best make this quick. The last shinobi flung one hand forth for the encroaching sphere, cradling it against his palm, as though it were a long lost friend. He countered with _a sphere of his own_ an orb of sapphire swelling within his free hand, mingling with that of the crimson and the orange searing into his flesh. His feet sank into the earth as he drew upon the energies of Namek itself, forcing them upon the spiraling sphere opposite his hand. Swelling. Bulging. Growing. Krillin found it strangely reminiscent of the spirit bomb technique, and yet, this was clearly not a spirit bomb. It was something else, and it certainly didn't feel like ki. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure what _it_ even was!

"G-Gohan?" Krillin asked, swallowing his dread.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Any idea what that thing in his hand is?"

The demi-saiyan could only shake his head as Naruto slowed his backward skid to a mere crawl. Straightened, lightning skittering across his fingertips, as the sphere began to take form. Ballooning from a small orb the size of a soccer ball to a basketball, then larger. Larger. Larger. The sphere, was nearly the size of a small moon now, and still it showed no signs of slowing. Beneath the blinding brilliance of his own technique, the last shinobi offered a triumphant cackle.

_"Chou..._

Beyond the blazing brightness of his final attack, Frieza frowned.

_...Odama..._

What was that glare? What was that strange blue brightness, just now? It couldn't possibly be-

_**...RASENGAN!"**_

Sapphire engulfed orange, enveloping the tyrant's technique within a thin membrane of spiraling azure energy. Swallowing it whole. Frieza gawped at it, as his Death Ball dissolved into what could only be described as a massive construct of energy. Impossible! Who could do such a thing?! Golden eyes glared back at him in defiance as its owner stepped forward cradling the massive orb aloft atop a single hand. Uzumaki Naruto was still alive. Very much so. Sweat beaded his brow from the efforts required to maintain such a massive amalgamation of ki and chakra but even as he looked on the last shinobi raised his remaining hand.

"Did you like that?" He hissed through clenched teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw. "Thought so. And now, for my next trick, I'm going to make an asshole dissapear." He inhaled.

_Sharply._

Frieza gawped. Gawped...

Almost immediately the sphere began to shrink. _No! My attack! What has he done to it?!_ Even as he looked on the rasengan shrank to a pinpoint of brilliance and entered the blonde's mouth. An earsplitting hiss left his his lips and resonated witin the air, reminiscent of a shrieking gale. Naruto opened his mouth, revealing the malestrom of light swelling at the back of his throat. With a scream, he hurled the combined energies back at the arrogang overloard. _Hard._ Even he stood no chance against such energy, unprotected.

_**"Bijudama!"**_

Red eyes bulged as the fires roared over and toward him, threatening to snuff out his grand ambitions then and there. All his plans for immortality, ruined! _Not bloody likely!_

Frieza's heel shot upward like a rocket and collided with the blast. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the beam was left with nowhere to go but up, careened into the green heavens, hurtling off into the darkened depths of the atmosphere. His left leg quivered, numbed by the sheer intensity of the energies, and the effort required to deflect the blasts into outer space. Somewhere in the distance, one of the many planets orbiting Namek suffered the ultimate end; the sad misfortune of falling in the planetkiller's path. An entire civilization cried out in fear and terror as death rained down from the sky in the form of blinding light. A multitude of all but millions upon millions of voices found themselves forever silenced as that light that struck upon them with terrifying swiftness, plunging into the fertile soil of their planet, eviscerating the core and hurtling them into the fires of oblivion forevermore.

Gohan and Krillin could only look on in horror as that planet winked out of existence; snuffed out like candle's flame in the sky above. Naruto's outward reaction was a controlled one but inside, he was raging. A pang of sorrow stabbed at his chest, knifing into his ribs to strike at his heart. He'd felt them. Felt them die. Men and women and children, a flourishing society, now gone forever. And it was his fault. Granted, it wasn't a planet he ruled, but the loss of life saddened him nonetheless.

_Damnit. _he swore at himself._ '__I'm seriously starting to regret my lack of genjutsu right about now.'_

**"Do you really think an illusion would be enough to stop him?"**

_'No, but I can hope.'_

**"Well...damnit. I guess you're right. At least Namek's still in one piece."**

Naruto released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. _That was too close._ Much too close. He hadn't used ninjutsu, in nearly three years now. And using Sage Mode after such a long time...well, it pleased him to know he could still draw upon his considerable talents as a shinobi when needed. Because he had succint feeling he'd be needing them now. Eye, stinging, he turned toward Frieza, silently delighting in the sight that the overlord's burned leg afforded him. There was a certain sick pleasure to be had in the knowledge that he'd inflicted pain upon the self-absorbed tyrant.

The tyrant scowled.

"Seems you're not the weakling I made you out to be."

Naruto flashed his most winning smile.

"There a particular reason why you did that, Frieza?"

"Do I need a _reason_ to indulge in a little destruction?"

Naruto swallowed.

_'So much for this being an easy bout.'_

**"If we have to transform then so be it."**

_'C'mon,'_ Naruto whined._ 'You know that messes up my body.'_

**"Its our body, you buffoon! How many times do I have to tell you that! Now send the children away so we can fight!"**

_'Alright, Alright! You don't have to shout at me..._

"Get out of here, boys." Eyes glued upon the alien, he didn't so much as glance back at the earthlings when he spoke, his words little more than a sibilant snarl. "You're in the way."

"But-

"No buts!" He hissed, smile flipping into a grimace. "Win or lose; its my victory, I'll be reunited with Shion whether I live or die." Abruptly as it had come, his smile returned. "Of course, I have no intention of dying here on this rock. Now, move! Take the balls and go!"

"R-Right!" Grabbing Gohan by the wrist, Krillin was quick to comply. A faint flare of ki later and they were gone into the distance. Frieza frowned at their sudden escape; frowned as his power level rose, leaving his body sheathed in violent violet energy. Pleated feet left the earth, his body languidly ascending into the atmosphere after the blond, arms coming unfolded behind his back. A cold sneer warped his features as he pointed the tip of a finger toward their retreating forms. A pinprick of brilliance gleamed at the tip of the lone digit, not unlike the previous sphere.

"How nice of you to present me with a moving target."

With the merest effort of will, the beam streaked toward its prey.

Naruto buzzed into existence between them and the death beam; the stream of pink carroming harmlessly off his hand and off into the distance. Despite himself Frieza's only ire increased. He'd known the blond to hold an incredible measure of power, but this was growing tiresome. At this rate he'd have to transform if he wanted to crush the boy like the insect he was. But for all his might, he needed time to gather energy. Something told him the boy wasn't about to allow that. So, instead of panicking, the tyrant forced a small smile to pull at his black lipstick.

"Seems I've underestimated you." he mused aloud. "Such a pity. I thought we'd be able to get along, but we just can't seem to tolerate one another now, can we?"

"You have no idea." Slitted eyes bored into him like a drill, pinnioning the alien overlord, on the blonde's gaze. Assesing his every sin_-and there were many-_condemning him to the firey pits of hell. "I'm going to end you s Frieza. Not just for all the lives you've taken, for all the homes you've destroyed, but for what you've stolen from me!" Muscles bulged. Veins throbbed. Aura flared as he dredged up still more of that unholy red power that cursed crimson ki, and gathered it into his fists. "Your tyranny ends here!"

"Oh, are we still going on about that pathetic little planet?" Frieza chorted softly. "Honestly, you can have it back, for all I care. It won't even fetch a proper price on the intergalatic market." A sneer twisted his features as he beckoned toward the last shinobi. "All you have to do is kneel and pledge your loyalty to me. Oh," He added, almost as an afterthought, "If you _really_ want to get in my good graces, do be a dear and bring Vegeta back here for a good spanking, will you?"

"You...

A muscle jumped in the blonde's jaw. He couldn't care less about Vegeta. It was the tyrant's incessant need to debase hiim on every level that set his blood boiling. If the mighty Frieza could not control something, then he would destory it. If he could not destroy it, then he would control it. Or in Naruto's case, incessantly mock him for his failures. An image of Shiion _writhing in pain_ flashed through his mind. It was like flicking a switch and snapping it off at the handle. Veins bulged in his head. Blue flickered to red. His body cried out in protest, but he carefully ignored it, hair standing on end. Streaks of red crept through the matted blond tresses, fell upon it and flayed it to pieces. He felt rather than saw his own hair lengthen crimson tresses spilling down his back as he tapped into his Uzumaki heritage. Throughout it all, he felt Kurama's intense ire.

**"Kit...**

_"Are you fucking serious?"_

**"Kit!"**

_'I'll kill him!'_

"You think you're _soo_ noble, sending your little friends off to fight me alone." Frieza continued with a sneer, every word dripping scorn and malice. "But they won't escape me." He chortled softly. "Once I'm finished with you I'll be sure to make them suffer for their temerity. But first things first," He raised a hand. "Shall we dispense with the formalities and end this little charade?" Purple power stemmed from his shoulders, warping the air around them. Naruto's aura flared in kind, crimson clashing against violet.

"Ladies first!"

Cold fury burned the world white and the planet Namek trembled.

"For the last time I am _not_ a woman you insufferable idiot!"

* * *

Miles away from the two titans, princess Vegeta stood over the prone form of Zarbon. The beating she'd suffered at the hands of the last shinobi, while nowhere near lethal enough to push her to the brink of death, had pushed her _power level_ to unimaginable heights. She hadn't been expecting Zarbon, to simply _materialize_ before as he had, Such a strange ability, but whatever ability it was, she'd not given him the chance to make use of it again.

Granted, he'd given her quite the shock when he'd transformed but even that hideous transformation paled in comparison to her newfound power. She cradled an injured arm loosely wincing as the muscles throbbed in plantive protestation to the fact. It had been a close battle, but she'd emerged the victor. Now, she had only to heal, to let her body recover and her power would increase stiill further! This was glorious! Marvelous! The power was hers! All hers! It was wonderful! Nothing could stop her! Nothing-

Beneath her boot, the still form of Zarbon suddenly stirred.

"Vegeta...you...insolent little whore...you...you cannot defeat me... in this form...

"You're wrong, Zarbon." She hissed back, seething down at that half-concscious fom of Frieza's right-hand man. "I can kill you in any form!" She spread her fingers, reveling in the alien's dawning dismay, a fleeting sigh of horror and revulsion as he realized the fate about to befall him. "Just as I'm about to kill you now!"

"Vegeta! No! Wait! If you kill me, you'll never know what happened to your planet!"

"What's this?" She frowned. "Planet Vegeta was destroyed by an asteroid, its gone forever. What else is there to know?"

"If...you kill me now...you're never going to find out!"

"Grrrr...fine!

Hating herself for every instant, she lowered her hand.

And so Zarbon told her the tale.

And when he was finished, Vegeta blinked. A macabre expression flitted across her face; a multitude of emotions, too numerous to count. Shock. Horror. Sorrow. Anger. Rage, a white-hot fury so fierce, even Zarbon quailed beneath it. To a male, the destruction of thier home planet was not something to be taken lightly. For a saiyan, for a saiyan female no less; the princess of all saiyans...well, the result, was certainly less than pleasant. A lone tear trailed down her face, the sole sign of her grief. And then she smiled; a cruel, ruthless smile, utterly devoid of

"Oooh, I'll let you go alright, Zarbon...straight to the next world!"

"No!" Zarbon shrilled. "Vegeta! You can't! You promised! No! I can still be of use to you! No!

"Noooooooooooooo-

A blast of ki to the warriors head abruptly ended their little disagreement. Vegeta stared down at the headless corpse of Zarbon for what felt like an eternity of she began to tremble. It startled softly at first a little more a maddened giggle; stirring deep within her breast. Before long, she'd exploded into full body laughter, exulting in her triumph over her most hated enemy. This was perfect! Frieza feared the saiyans! They were right to be feared. Just as he feared her! And with that blond brat keeping Frieza occupied, she was free to search for the dragonballs! This was too good to be true!

"I can feel it." the princess all but purred, forcing her fingers into a fist. "I'm getting stronger, with each passing day!"

Zarbon was no mere pushover, and she'd crushed him like an insect! Granted, she'd sustained some damage to her armor and left arm, but with her saiyan healing factor she'd be restored soon enough. By the end of a single solar day, if she was lucky! Kicking the corpse of the fallen soldier into the sea she gloated silently asit sank to the bottom. He reflection stared back at her: dirty and mussy streaked with bood. She reveled in the glory of it. With each battle she became stronger still!

Pushing a hand through her scartet-streaked hair, she was briefly reminded of the last shinobi, the same fool who'd so foolishly spared her life, to help his so-called friends. He'd made the worst mistake of _his_ life by not finishing her off. And one day, that mistake would come back to haunt him. To kill him. To grind the life out of his eyes and make him suffer in recompense for his temerity.

"You're a fool, Uzumaki!" She cackled at the heavens. "You've only made me stronger!"

* * *

In th mids of his battle with Frieza, Naruto felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine.

_'I have a bad feeling..._

**"What was that?"**

_...like we've pissed off the wrong person.'_

He skipped backwards as another blast sheared through his armor, shattering the left pad as though it were naught but glass. This was getting tiresome. He didn't want to provoke Frieza too much; he merely wanted to buy the earthlings enough time to escape. He'd no choice but to trust them now. They had his balls!

**"Did you cringe at that line, or was it just me?"**

_'No...no, there was definitely some cringing involved there.'_

Doing his best to force images of the earthlings-and this Bulma woman-from his mind, Naruto ascended, evading another blas that could've easily ended his life.

"You won't have your wish, Frieza!" He taunted, surging forward.

"And neither will you!" Frieza's tail crackled outward seeking face and flesh. Naruto danced backward suffering the loss of his cape in the process. He flung it back at the alien and succeeded only in having the garment torn in two, the overlords attention momentarily divided along the separate halves of fabric as they fluttered to ocean below. It was enough. In the tyrant's brief moment of anger and arrogance, his fingers found what they sought.

Frieza's tail.

"Gotcha!" Naruto grinned, bringing his arms back over his head. "Now, let me show you how I earned the title of number one prankster in Konoha!" The self-proclaimed ruler of struggled in vain as the blond brought his hands backwards, hauling him off his feet and into the air. His shock was total; he wasn't prepared for such an outlandish tactic, least of all from such a civilized fellow.

"What are you_uuuuu_**_uuuuuuuurgh!"_**

Frieza's words ended in a disbelieving shrill of pain as Naruto swung his body round and round, twirling like a top. Round and round they spun, the latter enjoying every minute of it, the former, unable to so much as try to halt the incessant revolution. Upon reaching maximum velocity, the last shinobi let the alien overlord fly; hurling him to the unyielding earth below. Minus the tail. Naruto held onto _that_ as a souveneir; _a trophy really _something to lord over the lord of the universe. Purple blood leached through his fingertips, a sick, squelching sound punctuated by the alien's agonized scream. Naruto heard none of it; felt nothing, as he stole a glance down at himself, at the sparks splaying across his body.

_'Holy crap.'_ he mused, holding the still twitching tail in hand._ 'I really am stronger!'_

He raised his gaze as the tyrant rejoined him in the air. The once unflappable alien was all but twitching with rage. It didn't take him long to put two and two together. Naruto held up the tail, grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Missing something?"

"Give that back!" Frieza exclaimed.

"What's the magic word?"

"Please!"

"See?" Naruto brightened. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

He tossed the severed appendage toward Frieza, but even as the overlord reached out for his oh-so precious tail, a burst of ki engulfed it. The mighty Lord Frieza could only look on in horror as the pile of ashes formerly known as his tail blew away in the breeze, scattered across the sea. Struggling to come to term, with the aching pain in his backside, the overlord forced himself to straighten, forced himself to meet the blonde's defiant sneer of derision.

"I'm sooo sorry." Naruto laughed as the last of the ashes smoldered away. "Was that important? Looks like it was."

"You really think you can hope to compete with me?"

"Not, really no." Naruto rolled his shoulders. "I may not be able to defeat you at present, but I can certainly slow you down." He smiled and the gesture was warm as lava glow but his eyes blazed with fire. "And I'm not about to give you the opportunity to catch me either, Frieza!"

"You worm!"

Naruto's only response was to sneer.

"Now that I've destroyed your scouters though, it doesn't matter!" He laughed. "You can't track me without them!"

"What?!"

"Which means...

He placed two fingers to his forehead and stuck out his tongue. He had a lock on Bulma's energy signature_-funny how he already had it memorized-_and now it was merely a matter of focusing on it. He'd sort out all this romance crap later. For now, he was resolved to wreak as much havok as possible.

...I can do this!"

Frieza's eyes bulged so large he was certain they'd fall out of his head. It was that technique again! He was going to get away and with three of the dragonballs!

"Don't you dare!"

Naruto waved as his body flickered, fading even as he transported.

"Ja ne, asshole!"

Frieza lunged at him, determined to torture the information out of him. His fingers closed around empty air. Naruto was gone. And without his scouter Frieza was powerless to find him. He looked left. Right. Found only the calming seas of Namek, eased by the end of their battle. Fingers twitching, teeth gnashing together with enough force to draw sparks, the alien overlord obliterated the nearest islan with a flick of his wrist. He gave a hearstopping shriek of rage, threw back his head and screamed:

"GIVE ME BACK MY BALLS YOU FOOL!"

At these words, laughter could be heard halfway across the planet.

**A/N: Alright, before ya'll go crazy I know that nameks are all MALE. Just as I know that their planet has three suns and that they get their nutrients from water, and not food. Though, truth be told the idea of a female namek does amuse me and I'm not opposed to it. You really never know what to expect with me, do you? I'm not saying that I'm going to act on this crazy idea,but neither am I dead set against it. Meh, either way, the next chapters promise to be interesting! Naruto's still in touch with his shinobi abilities in this story, as evidenced by his Sage Mode and the HUGE Chou Odama Rasengan, not to mention the Bijudama variant. Now, I have been asked, this, does he know that Kaioken? He MIGHT. He's been to a lot of places and a lot of planets, and it is possible to get to King Kai's place via instant transmission so...**

**...We shall have to wait and see! The NarutoxBulma bit and their sudden closeness will be adressed next chapter! Look forward to it! ****Anywho, I'm off to work now and I look forward to reading your reviews upon my return. I sincerely hope you liked it so, in the immortal words of Atlas...**

**...REVIEW, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**

**R&R! =D**


	4. Past Present Future

**A/N: Someone made a point about Vegeta. She really ought to look a bit different from her make counterpart. So here's a link. Go to Deviantart zetsubuodigital and look up the picture titled what have I done. The top picture is Vegeta. THAT is what she looks like in this ficlet! I strongly suggest you follow this author's note first before reading further. And on that note, thank you and enjoy the story after you look at the picture!**

**...Enjoy, I tell you!**

_"Such a pity. I would've liked to play with you a little longer."_

_~Frieza_.

**Past. Present. Future.**

In the darkness of the cave was light. The windows of the capsule house were a welcome sight to anyone seeking shelter, but for its sole denizen; to ask shelter from the distraught maiden would result in an hour-long tirade followed by projectiles of different sorts being flung at the unwanted guest.

And unfortunately, such a guest came at _such_ an inopportune time.

Bulma yelped in surprise as the Last Shinoi crashed facefirst into the bathwater...and, her cleavage. One moment she'd been sitting in the capsule house, indulging in a bath. The next, a battered and slightly bruised Uzumaki Naruto splashed into the tub with her. Beneath Bulma's pale skin, the slow flushing of her face was like a growing forest fire spreading to her entire body. Naruto was in the bathtub. With her. While she was naked. _Naked! _His arms were wrapped tight around her body, clutching her close in reflexive embrace.

_"Ah...!"_

Bulma wanted to scramble out of his arms, but her bones inexplicably turned to jelly beneath this embrace. She wasn't exactly _opposed_ to being him in this position, either...but not, so suddenly! She'd only just met the boy!

Spitting and sputtering, the blond finally ripped his head from between her breasts and thrust his arms forward for balance. _Squeezed._ Bulma squeaked in surprise, both angered and aroused by his touch.

"Ah...Naruto-kun!" Her cheeks blazed, eyes glazed. "W-What're you...

Against his better judgement, the last shinobi stole a glance down, into the bathwater. Saw his hands. A low growl tore its way out of his throat, quickly building into a voluminous roar that shook their hidden hideaway to its very foundations. It boomed across the planet, resounding into the deepest, darkest depths of space and throughout the galaxy.

Where one to listen closely, it would've sounded a great deal like:

"WWWWWOOOOOMMMMMMMAAAAAANNNNN ?!"

* * *

"Krillin, did you hear that?" Gohan asked in midlight.

The bald monk swallowed nervously as he struggled to hold onto the namekian child known as Dende. Despite having just met the Last Shinobi, he knew that scream anywhere. Just as he knew whomever stoon on the receiving end of his wrath was doubtlessly in for a world of hurt.

"I _feel_ that."

* * *

_(Somewhere in a nearby Namekian Village)_

Vegeta was in the midst of gloating over her recently claimed dragonball when she heard the deep rumble of a familiar scream. It instilled a deep sense of fear in her bones and yet, left her feeling strangely aroused. A stronger feeling she'd never felt before. She frowned, tucking her hard-won prize under an arm as she turned her gaze toward the horizon.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing out on an _incredible_ opportunity right now?"

* * *

Miles in the distance, Frieza paused in his random destruction of the surrounding islands. He felt...an unholy force. Easily capable of rivaling his own. Wherever it was_-whatever it was-_it did not sound incredibly pleasant nor did it show any signs of slowing down. Indeed, Namek itself seemed to quiver in fear of its wrath; terrified by the prospect of its own destruction. Whomever had roused such a force, he certaiinly did not envy them, of that much he was certain. But still...

"What the devil _is_ that?" he wondered aloud. Who could possibly scream with such force and vehemence?

"No matter." He scoffed. "The Ginyu Force will deal with those weaklings. _Once I get my balls back from that bastard!"_ Ignoring the scream reverberating into the distance, the alien overlood took off toward his ship, an all too knowing smile plastered across his smug face. Ah yes, the Ginyu Force. The most illustrious fighters known across the galaxy...second only to another, less known force. Rumour had it, that the Last Shinobi held in his employ a select group of individuals comprised of many different species. The identities of these warriors remained largely unknown but their illustrious title had already spread halfway across the galaxy. Whereas the Ginyu Force killed for sport and pride, these fierce fighters fought solely for the sake of the peace.

They were the enforcers of the Last Shinobi; his eyes and ears in a kingdom spanning several galaxies over and more than its fair share of planets. Handpicked by the ninja himself, trained in the ancient arts of ninjutsu and the like, feared even by the Ginyu Force. If _they_ were to be summoned here...his balls were good as gone!

But...that was nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense.

After all, no one could possibly defeat the Ginyu Force. No one could possibly be his equal, either...

...or were they?

* * *

_Billions_ of light years distant, the great and mighty Lord Cooler_-son of King Cold and elder brother to Frieza-_briefly ceased gloating over the discovery of his newest transformation. Already en route to the planet Namek and ready to wrest away his brother's dreams of immortality, he'd been certain of his victory...until now. Now...just now, he'd thought he'd sensed something. A prescence. A mighty indefatigable force, filled with might and malice, shrieking its boundless fury and surprise unto the heavens.

"Sire," Salza approached his side with a formal bow, "We will be reaching the planet namek fairly soon."

"..."

"Is something wrong, sire?"

"No." Cooler frowned, his tail lashing at the ship's floor, his mind deep in thought. "It's nothing. Inform me when we reach Namek."

* * *

_(Deep in space, nearing the planet namek)_

Son Goku briefly paused in his 100G training regimen, his ears picking up the faintest hints of scream, dying into the distance. Where one to consider the rammifications of such a thing, it would've been impossible. No sound could penetrate the void of space, and yet he'd clearly heard the unmistakeable sound of a young man screaming. How very odd.

"Meh," He shrugged nonchalantly, returning to his ten thousand situps. "Nobody I know...

* * *

King Kai trained his antennae in the direction of the scream.

"What is it King Kai?" Yamcha asked.

"I sense...a disturbance." The god frowned, struggling to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the power behind that scream. "...In the force."

He promptly started snickering.

"Oh, man! That was a good one!"

The quartet of warriors face-vaulted.

"Did he seriously just pull an Obi-Wan Kenobi out of his ass?" ventured Tien.

Piccolo snorted and returned to his meditation.

"Idiots...

* * *

_(Back with Naruto)_

"Woman?!" Naruto exclaimed aghast, face flaming as he pushed himself off of he. "What in blazes is this?!" He burst upward eyes flaring as he sought a foothold in the slippery water. In hindsight, the last shinobi really ought to have sought a sound a handhold instead; because as luck would have it, he slipped on the soap.

On.

The.

Soap.

Bulma squealed in surprise, unable to scramble out of the tub in time; because Naruto was suddenly there. His body weight crushing her, denying her all chance at escape. For the second time that day their lips collided but this time there was no impending doom to force them apart. _This time_ it was utter indignation on the blonde's part. In the ensuing chaos that followed, only these and the following words could be made out:

"Why must you keep kissing me woman?!"

"My name is Bulma!"

"Naruto!"

**"Kurama!"**

_'Shut the hell up!'_

**"PERVERT!"**

* * *

Five minutes and a well-deserved slap later, Naruto was _still_ nursing a swollen cheek. He winced, touching the throbbing handprint gingerly. Cringed, as pain flared in his cheek once more. Not even the almighty powers of Kurama could defend against the dreaded female aura of doom. The Nine-Tails was still cackling over his little slip-up, in fact.

**"Kit, you land in the _strangest_ of places...**

"Damnit!" Naruto uttered an oath so foul it made Bulma's skin crawl in the next room over. "Its not my fault! I still haven't gotten the hang of instant transmission yet!" Well it _was_ his fault, he having lowered his power enough to actually sustain damage from such a feeble blow-THAT WAS BESIDES THE POINT! "I'd like to see you instantly teleport towards an energy signature you've never sensed before!"

Whatever else the Kyuubi might've said was drowned out by:

"Insta-what?" Bulma called out.

"Nevermind!" Naruto grumbled, folding his arms with a derisive snort. "Impudent woman...

"My name is Bulma!" she shouted back. "The _least_ you can do is call me by my name after kissing me!"

Naruto flushed.

True, he had initiated that first kiss. It had been he who'd betrayed Shion that time. He'd been weak with want and need, and his telepathy, certainly hadn't helped matters any. There had been no love at first sight, no heart-filled, eyes none of that fairytale stuff. But that second kiss...no! He was loyal to Shion! He felt no feelings for this girl! He was just using her until he could bring back Shion!

**"Liar liar pants on fire...**

_'Urusai!'_

The Last Shinobi drew a deep breath and promptly expelled it, pushing his tension out alongside it. _Alright Naruto...calm down._ He needed to _ignore_ his initial irritation towards this insufferable earthling and move on to the matter at hand. Once Frieza finally finished his little temper tantrum he'd surely call for the Ginyu Force. He didn't fear them, nor the _spy_ he'd planted in their ranks, but he _did_ fear the scouter's they brought. Once Frieza had his precious deviice he might as well broadcast his position to the entire planet. While he could always use instant transmission to bug out if things got too dicey there would be no escape for the namekians; their lives and their dragonballs would be taken as easily as candy from a babe. He needed reinforcements and soon. It was time to call upon his disciples. It was time to call Team Shinobi.

"Oi, woman!" he called.

"BULMA!" came the answering shout from the bathroom.

"Alright, _Bulma."_ He breathed, flopping down onto the couch. "You wouldn't happen to have some sort of transmitting device, would you?"

"You mean a cell phone?" she shouted back. "I don't think we'd have any reception out here...

Naruto blinked.

"What the _hell_ is a cell phone?"

"Have you been living under a rock or something?"

Naruto flshed.

"You know what? Nevermind! Would you kindly give me that radar of yours so I can get out of here?"

"What?!" The Capsule Corp heiress peeked around the corner half-dressed, her features fixed in disbelief. "You want my radar?!" Incredulity flared in her lovely blue eyes, roaring high in stubborn defiance. "No! Never! We can't track down the dragonballs without-_yipe!"_ She 'eeped' and fled in the opposite direction; flushing as the last shinobi burst to his feet and came hurtling towards her. Her ass greeted the wall with a soft smack as he pressed her up against it and held her there; one had cupping her chin in a macabre attempt at intimacy. The other, remained wrapped securely round her waist, denying the heiress her escape. He needn't have bothered. The moment he came within three feet of her, any and all semblance of resistance had been driven from her body.

"Now, you listen to me you insufferable little earthling and you listen damn good." An overly-gracious smile shined out from beneath roughened blonde bangs. "I'm going to use that radar. And there's not a damn thing ya can do to stop me, gorgeous." Her anger momentarily stifled by hi words, Bulma Briefs became increasingly aware of what little she wore; her attire consisting solely of a thread bare midriff-baring grey tank top and matching panties. She squirmed uncomfortably beneath his gaze, his words settling around her like a thick shroud.

"B-But we need it...

"I need it more." He was looking right at her now, demanding her compliance. Her eyes flicked toward his lips, her body responding to his touch, despite her best efforts to resist. Crapola. She, wanted, _him._ She wanted him so bad her bones ached.

"You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?" she could barely force the words out.

Naruto looked at her as though she'd grown an extra pair of arms and legs. Which, given all he'd seen in his four years of inter-galatic training, was quite likely.

"Why the devil would I hit you?" He asked. "I'll just tear this place apart until I find what I'm looking for."

At a distance of a thousand miles, it was easy to blame her behavior on soul tearing grief. But being here and seeing him? It made it impossible to continue to deceive herself. That itchy feeling, the tingling of her scalp whenever he came within ten feet of her, her inability to stop jabbering like a kindergartener? They were all the result of her impossible physical reaction to him. This annoying, insufferable shinobi, who seemed nearly as determined to distance himself from her as she was him. Her heart was screaming at her, hammering in her chest with the sudden desire to make love to him. She didn't trust herself to words so she wisely kept her mouth tightly shut.

"Go." Naruto nudged her back toward the bathroom, his fingers lingering upon her arm a touch longer than was necessary. "Get yourself dressed, Bulma."

"I'm still not going to give you the radar." She shot a backward glance at him, stifling a squeak of surprise as his hand graced her backside.

"Then I'll take it by force!" Icy blue eyes cut in her direction, cut her down to size. Beneath that gaze she felt as if she were three inches tall. Abruptly his visage softened. "You wouldn't want that, would you?" Honestly she didn't know whether he met her virginity or the radar. Quite frankly, she didn't care. When she looked into his eyes she just wanted to give him _everything_ to see him happy, no matter the cost. There was a certain tenderness in his eyes, a willingness to do what was necessary, but only as a last resort.

Such tenderness. Not a thing like Yamcha.

_Yamcha..._

She didn't love Yamcha. She never had. Not since she'd caught him cheating with one of those call-girls. Oh, she'd bawled when he'd died, sure enough. But the way Naruto had kissed her...you couldn't fake that kind of emotion. But could she trust him? He might very well be using her for his own means. He had a wife and a child by his own admission. Did that make this wrong? Wrong for her to want a formerly married man when he was clearly still hung up over them.?

"Aaargh!" A cry of frustration pierced the haze. "Where is it?!"

Bulma said nothing as she ducked back around the shroud; hurrying to throw on her attire behind the relative safety of the curtain. She couldn't let him find the radar!

"Aha!" Naruto's crow of triumph confirmed her worst fear even as she zipped up her jacket. "If this isn't your blasted radar, I don't know what is!" Fear and doubt hurtling like a freight train straight at her, Bulma Briefs hurtled out of the bathroom.

"Give that back!"

"No! Never!" Naruto mimiced Bulma, cackling as he threw himself out of the way. Ah, but he underestimated her willingness to retrieve the radar. Bulma tackled him from behind, catching him off guard.

"Wha-HEY!"

Naruto flushed beet red as she pushed him down, eyes bulging in surprise.

"Get your hands off me!"

_'Of all the places I could've landed..._

**"No complaints here!"**

_Of course not!_

Bemused, both by her reaction and his own, the fox pushed past him, sharingan ee flaring.

It was a mistake.

Scarce had his Sharingan eye snared her than he found himself frozen. Oh dear. He knew this feeling:

_Naruto was walking up the hill with a small dragonball clutched in his right hand, the dragon radar, the other. Clad in a black training gi, he all but oozed confidence. One down, six to go! He sealed it within a scroll, for the time being, pausing to consult the handheld device. Abruptly, he stowed the radar on his person, hearing someone and sensing an energyies He looked around and waited for someone to emerge from the trees. "I know you're out there!"_

_Two little arms wrapped around his neck and a small weight landed on his back. He bristled for but a moment before a young voice chirruped happily in his ears:_

_"Papa!"_

_He laughed and reached behind him to pull her off of his back and into his chest. She giggled and squirmed as he tickled her stomach. _

_"What are you up to, you little rascal?"_

_She was very ticklish and couldn't talk until he stopped tickling her. _

_"I had another vision." she told him. "The next dragonball is in the mountains."_

"_Is that so?" he asked._

"_Yep!" She was about ten years old. Bright, innocent eyes gazed up at him adoringly, framed by sky blue hair, just like her mother's. Whisker marks tripled either cheek lending a bit of his own features to the child; the stubborn set of her jaw, the eager determination in her eyes. He chuckled softly as he set her down, only for her to levitate and grab at his hand; her small fingers fitting flawlessly within his own, as if they were meant to be there. Ten years old and already able to fly. He was so proud of her. Maybe he'd teach her the kage bunshin tomorrow..._

_"Where's mama B?" She asked suddenly, hovering in front his face. "I'm hungry!"_

_"Chidori," Naruto reproached her. "You **know** your mother doesn't like it when you call her that."_

_Her lower lip jutted out in a defiant pout._

_"Just cause mama's pregnant dusn mean-_

_**"Doesn't."** Naruto corrected, eliciting a groan of frustration from his offspring._

_-doesn't mean she can keep ignoring me!"_

_"She's not _trying_ to ignore you." Naruto soothed the now-named chidori, tucking a strang of sky-blue hair behind her ear. " She just isn't herself when she's carrying twins. You should be happy, though! Soon, you will have a younger brother and sister to play with!"_

_Chidori's eyes shone brightly._

_"I can't wait!" She settled onto his shoulders, no longer content just to fly around._

_Naruto chuckled._

_"I'm sure you can't."_

_"Do you think mama made lunch yet?" his daughter asked, her anger already forgotten. "I'm hungry."_

_ Naruto smiled. He could already detect the faint aroma of Bulma's cooking._

_"Well..._

_Their stomachs growled in unision._

_"I certainly hope so..._

"_Good, because I'm starving!"_

Naruto jerked back as if he'd been _burned._

Stung, Bulma stared back at him.

"What did you see?"

Naruto daren't speak.

Oh no. No no no. No! This wasn't happening! He hadn't had a vision in nearly four years! He'd since ceased using that aspect of his power, suppressing his visions to the point of nonexistence. And now, NOW they were telling him he'd end up with Bulma? Honestly, he didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Probably the latter. His visions had been deadly accurate, when the Kanassans first granted him their gifts. From simple matters such as the weather to far-reaching implications such as the destruction of Planet Vegeta, they were unchangeable. Anything he did to alter them was simply taken into account and rendered irrelevant by the end. With such an iredeemable future however, he was tempted to try nonetheless.

Short of ending his own life-impossible, given his healing factor-he was royally screwed! Kurama's words only reaffirmed his worst fears.

**_"Congrats, kit! You. Are. Screwed!"_**

**A/N: And there we go! A light little chapter to ease the tension...or not. Trunks may or may not be born in this cycle, and if he is, would if make more sense for him to be Bulma's son or Vegeta's? I mean I can't imagine Trunks not being a Super Saiyan. Thoughts? Opinions? ****Anywho, I'm off to work now and I look forward to reading your reviews upon my return. I sincerely hope you liked it so, in the immortal words of the soon to be created Trunks...**

**...REVIEW, OR IT WILL BE THE END OF ALL OF US!**

**R&R! =D**


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